A Work of Pure Craftsmanship

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2008)

" A guy told me one time, 'Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.'" Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) from Heat
I've always been of the opinion that it is incredibly difficult to make a great crime picture. The genre has been explored so many times from so many angles. I can say with a degree of certainty that 99% of crime films being made today fall in to the "Forgettably Entertaining" category. Michael Mann's Heat is a film that falls in the final 1%.
Heat (apropriatley subtitled "A Los Angeles Crime Saga") is at its core a character study of archetypal cops and robbers. The two sides of a coin: homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and ace thief Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro). Their stories are fairly typical: Pacino is always on the job, must to the chagrin of his third wife, Justine (Diane Venora). This is a Pacino performance of the first rank. He's manic and riveting. Though he represents the "right" side of the law, Hanna is not Elliot Ness reborn. He loves the role of the hunter and craves it, Pacino, always an incredibly intelligent actor, knows this and bases his performance in this characteristic.
DeNiro is Neil McCauley, a career thief who is the best in his profession. He's never had anything to weigh him down, so he's always been at the top. DeNiro bring a realistic cynicism to the role. In the hands of a lesser actor the role could have seemed to maudlin, but DeNiro pulls it off due to the attention and fascination her garners on screen.
Yet, when it comes down to it, this is truly a Michael Mann film. It is an epic of surprising scope, and thankfully Mann is a director of considerable range. Mann stages what is arguably the most impressive shootout of the past twenty odd years. He doesn't just throw it on the screen, it is carefully edited, and maintains a naturalistic flow. However, by praising his direction I do not mean to discount his taut scripting. The film is filled with endless fascination, down to the characters and their daily routines, details are abundant in this film.
All these elements are a certain greatness on their own , but when combined into a saga like 'Heat',they take on a special brilliance. When the credits roll it dawned on me, the film is so masterfully made, it is not only a masterpiece of the genre, but of the medium.