kinda over-rated

Rating: 6/10 (18 June 2005)

Is there anyone else who thinks this movie is over-rated? Yes, the crime sequences are memorable and done with skill, but the domestic scenes are painfully bad, not to mention entirely unnecessary. Every time either Ashley Judd or Natalie Portman enters the picture, the story just grinds to a halt. And while Michael Mann may have a keen visual sense, he can't write dialogue to save his life (not unlike George Lucas). And the characters? What characters? The criminals, in particular, are devoid of personalities. If someone asked you to give a brief description of Deniro's character, or Kilmer's, or Trejo's, what would you say? At the end of the film I never felt that I got to know any of them in even the slightest way. Eliminate the domestic scenes, infuse the characters (the criminals especially) with some personality, and you've got a great film. As it stands, though, "Heat" is a mediocre film with some great scenes.