A war of gods

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2002)

***SPOILERS AHEAD*** The two principal players, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) were gods, of course. Vincent was the God of Light, and Neil the God of Darkness. In the famous restaurant confrontation this was spelled out unequivocally. Neil (Darkness) would let nothing or no one stand in the way of achieving his ends; Vincent (Light) would let nothing stand in the way of his stopping Neil from hurting innocent people - that defined their purposes. Neil would never attach himself to a relationship (with a mortal) that he couldn't walk away from with thirty seconds notice; Vincent would never let love (of a mortal) stand above his work (*SPOILER* in the end, Neil turned his back on Eady; and Vincent walked away from Justine and Lauren during their time of greatest need) - that defined their stature as gods: gods cannot let their affairs be affected by mortals. Even their battles were Olympian: that bank robbery was like World War II. As the story of two gods at war, what was there to be concerned about? One would win, one would lose. *SPOILERS AHEAD* So equally godlike and equally strong were they that the final outcome was determined by luck: the sudden brilliance of the landing lights that outlined Neil's shadow. Their brotherhood as gods was also reflected in the end scene as Vincent held Neil's hand. The waiting and hurt Eady lived, died, cried, raged? No matter; this was a story of gods. Lauren lived, died, broke down, recovered, attempted suicide again? No matter; this was a story of gods. Charlene lived, died, went to jail, cried, built a better new life? No matter; this was a story of gods (and sub-gods, in her case). So, once their godliness and purpose were defined in the restaurant, I didn't really care that much for either Vincent or Neil. But overall, I really liked the movie, because Eady (leaving a gently secure life to fly off to Hawaii with an outlaw), Justine (sleeping with a nobody just to get Vincent to care), Lauren (attempting suicide in her step-father's apartment), Charlene (protecting her flawed godlet for some deeply passionate principle) were real humans with real, profound, interesting stories to tell. They're what made this three hour movie truly worth while sitting through. Vincent and Neil were gods, but these women were saints; and, as I see it, they carried the movie.
For Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, this movie didn't really stretch their acting talents. Playing gods, they could show no human vulnerabilities, and feel no human emotions, except anger - which only required them to yell or smash a guy's head against a wall. On the other hand, the female actors were involved in roles of real human drama: the roles they played required them to portray emotions, unreasoned loyalty, vulnerabilities, personal hopes, disappointments, and hurt; and they did fantastically well with the challenge. So kudos for a job well done should go to the ensemble of Amy Brenneman (Eady), Ashley Judd (Charlene), and Diane Veneron (Justine). And a special note of appreciation should go to Natalie Portman for her brief, but electrifying, poignant portrayal of the brittle, hopeful, hurting adolescent Lauren.