"All I am is what I'm going after."

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2016)

This is quite simply one of the finest movies of the last 20 years. The acting, direction, production and cinematography are all of the very best quality. This movie is well known for 2 things in particular. Firstly, for a while it was the only film in which Pacino and De Niro shared the screen *at the same time*. That has since been done again in Righteous Kill, but that was a vastly inferior movie to this. Secondly, as has been pointed out elsewhere, it contains the best heist shootout scene ever filmed. This scene is one of the most intense use of firearms you'll ever likely to see on screen, with the phenomenal sound of high powered rifles echoing off the buildings of downtown LA - if you have a home cinema system, turn it up for this scene, the background music is faded as the shooting begins and it is an audio assault on your ears. Fantastic atmosphere.
What's fascinating is how Michael Mann balances the two sets of production values, moving skilfully between in-depth character exploration and major action sequences. This is done by offering the viewer a juxtaposition between the 'normal' aspects of the criminal's lives and their 'work', conveying the point that, for these criminals, it's a lifestyle, a habit, and a pattern of living that in some ways has its own appeal and is difficult to escape from. Even for De Niro's more experienced and level-headed character, 'one last job' is just too tempting a prospect. The grim consequences of this failing are told here with weary inevitability: a fatal confrontation between law and criminality is on the cards. What this film reminds us is that these two communities are equal sides of the same coin. The glimpse this film gives us into their lives is a pastiche, but in a way it is no more unreal than the weirdness and tragedy that pass for reality.
Overall rating: 9 out of 10.