Sifting through detritus

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2007)

"Heat" is Michael Mann's crime movie set in Los Angeles. It pits Al Pacino as Lieutenant Vincent Hanna and the L.A. police against Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley and his loyal accomplices. The film captures both sides of the story exquisitely and features excellent cinematography and a well-made score.
From the start, "Heat" is a character-driven film. This is the film's main strength: it develops characters which are easy to become attached to and I became very interested in what fate the script had in store for each of the characters. My favorite of these characters is Al Pacino as Lieutenant Vincent Hanna. Hanna is the tough detective of old and Pacino has the gruff voice to match, but the character also gains depth from his relationship with his family. There is also well-placed humor injected into Hanna's character that was welcome. On the other side is Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley, who is also effective and develops a character of depth. There are also notable supporting performances from Val Kimer, Amy Brenneman, Dennis Haysbert and a number of others.
In addition to developing its characters, "Heat" benefits from showing carefully planned and executed crimes and careful and methodical investigative work. There is also high quality action scenes mixed in, which are given extra meaning due to the film's rigorous characterizations. There is also the famous scene where rivals Pacino and De Niro sit down for coffee and reflect on their lives which is simply brilliant. Overall "Heat" is a well-developed film which considers the consequences of crime on a public and personal scale.