Heat - On Fire

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2018)

With Robert Dinero, Al Pachino, Jon Voight and Val Kilmer headlining this movie, Heat is an intense police crime drama which capitalizes on its great screenplay, acting, production and directing. Many police dramas, particularly those of this era, have well developed story lines which fully engage the viewer in the main plot as well as the lives of the main characters. Although, at its core, Heat is a cops and robbers movie, what makes it special is the intensity of the dysfunctional personal relationships which Pachino, Dinero and Kilmer have with the women in their lives, and the cat and mouse game play between Pachino, the L.A. Police Lieutenant brining the "heat" to Dinero and his team of technically proficient and professional bank robbers.
The movie starts, not with a bank heist, but with the heist of bearer bonds from an armored car which results in the death of three guards raising the stakes of the crime from that of armed robbery to homicide for all parties concerned and putting Pachino on their trail. But less about bank robbing and more about the lives of Dinero and Pachino, one of the movies high drama points is when their cat and mouse game results in their meeting over a cup of coffee in a diner. During this meetin Pachino recounts Dinero's criminal resume and stays in the penitentiary, to which Dinero states that he's, "not going back." The two also speak candidly about what they each do in terms of chosen professions and how neither of them lives the regular life of "barbeques and ball games," and healthy relationship, and that this is the life they prefer. During this meeting the men share common perspectives on how they feel about what they do, and what they will have to do, even to each other, if it comes to that point. And we know, this point is coming. This scene demonstrates just how good these actors have perfected their crafts, as they convince the viewer that adversaries can have mutual respect for one another.
Heat follows the same pattern of many movies of this type, where we know how this is going to end - in the game of cops and robbers, the cops always win, and the robbers always make mistakes, errors in judgement and betray each other for any number of reasons. In the law and order aspect of the film there are casualties on both sides. But it is the casualties, drama and betrayal in the personal lives of the characters which keeps us glued to our seats.
As the movie reaches a climax, we see the wreckage coming. Pachino is in pursuit, even as his wife cheats on him and his step daughter attempts to commit suicide. Kilmer's wife seeks to sell him out to the LAPD, and changes her mind, and Dinero who in the process of escaping with his love interest must make a detour to kill one last person who betrayed him. This unplanned, undisciplined reckless and impulsive act we know will lead to Dinero's undoing, as his execution results in police, fire descending upon his location and him leaving the scene of foot with his love interest watching him take off.
The closing scene is a foot chase between cop and robber as Dinero attempts to get to the airport to make meet his connection and make his getaway. The airport scene is unremarkable, as the chase ends with Pachino shooting Dinero. As Dinero lay dying on the ground, Pachino grabs Dinero's hand as Dinero tells him, "I told you I'm not going back," to which Pachino replies, "yeah."
If you like classic crime dramas, without all the special effects, shiny objects, stunts and computer graphics, "Heat" is for you. Make no mistake about it. As entertaining as "Heat" is it is a film of human tragedy. It is the wreckage of human relationships where women pay a significant price for loving the men that they love. It is hard not to feel a women's pain as it front and center in almost every interaction.