A Fantastic Film.

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2003)

Undeniably one of the best films of the 1990's, Heat is a superb crime thriller that is both thrilling and artistic. Michael Mann has made many a great film; Manhunter and The Insider, but here he has created a work of sublime art, a film that is both violent yet oddly beautiful, repressive yet oddly emotional and optimistic and of course, it features Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on screen together for the first time, however it is the story that Michael Mann is telling which is the real star. Pacino and De Niro together may have been the driving force of the publicity of the film but they only share at least ten minutes of this 160 minute film together on screen. Mann just tells his story of what is essentially a film about two men who are both parts of one coin but who undeniably exhibit two sides. It is a testament to Mann's talent as one of the best writer/directors working today that this film works so well. The story of the cop hunting the robber and their story ending with a shoot out has been done to death, but here it feels new and original and best of all it is a story that is well told.
Heat is an urban epic first of all. The film is takes place in the jungle of Los Angeles and proceeds to tell the story of two men, either side of the law who, while respecting one another, will kill each other when they get the chance. Over the course of their story Mann successfully introduces us to their lives and an interesting portrayal of both McCauley (De Niro) and Hanna (Pacino) develop. Despite being the crook of the tale, McCauley is the most sympathetic of the two men. Currently in a developing relationship with a book clerk he is experiencing love and we see how much he really cares for the woman he is falling in love with, while Hanna is stuck in a loveless marriage which is so loveless he doesn't give a damn when he learns she is cheating on him, the only thing he cares about is the fact that her lover is watching his television in one of the funniest scenes of the film. The way the film cuts from McCauley to Hanna is masterful as we get a sense of the lives the lead and how different and how similar they really are. Only Pacino and De Niro could make a film like this work.
In saying while Heat is about the differences and similarities between cop and robber we also get to see the differences between these two masters of the acting worlds, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Both put in fantastic performances, no doubt, but I believe that De Niro is the better of the two actors in this film. We see how De Niro is one of a more restrained quality, an actor who says his lines with restraint and custom whereas Pacino goes into what I can only describe as Scarface mode and shouts much of his dialog in the film. Yet when the two share the screen in the now legendary coffee shop meeting we see how brilliant they two of them are. As method actors we see how they bring across their characters and we see how truly great they are, both showing the restraint and master craftsmanship of two of Hollywood's finest. Their descriptions of the recurring dreams they have being one of the finest moments of modern cinema. Never has a scene consisting of page after page of conversation in a film script transfered so brilliant to the big screen.
Even the many sub plots that take place around the De Niro/Pacino dynamic (Hanna's step daughter's depression and the disintegration of fellow thief Val Kilmer's marriage to Ashley Judd) doesn't dismantle proceedings. In fact it adds to the story and the character arcs of both cop and robber and works fantastically in a film that is one of the finest I have ever seen.
To sum up Heat is a superb film. It is quite simply magnificent.