"...brother, you are going down."

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2017)

Two of the modern era's quintessential actors on display here in a compelling one on one as kindred spirits on opposite sides of the law. Their conversation in the diner was classic, as if they were sizing each other up as consummate professionals, yet jockeying for position as to convince the viewer who was the better performer. For me it's a toss up, and the casting for the picture could have gone either way. DeNiro could have portrayed the character of Vincent Hanna, and Pacino could have been McCauley.
One thing about Pacino though. Whenever he went over the top, like arguing with his wife or in that scene with Ralph (Xander Berkeley) and the TV, he looked like an out of control maniac. In other words, he was acting crazy for the sole purpose of looking like he was crazy, while maintaining an inner composure so he wouldn't do something he'd be sorry for later. It was interesting how he developed the character of Sergeant Hanna.
Meanwhile, the principal villain of the piece, McCauley, seemed to have a level head all the time, except when dishing out punishment to henchmen like Waingro (Kevin Gage) when they stepped out of line. Personally though, the disparity in ages between DeNiro and Amy Brenneman as Eady detracted a little from the story for me. I didn't take their sudden relationship to be credible but I know stranger things have happened, so that's easy enough to overlook.
The final confrontation as well bothered me a little bit. For a good part of the time that Vincent was tracking Neil, he was right out there in the open and unprotected while McCauley was hidden behind a barricade. Why McCauley couldn't have picked him off seemed somewhat dubious to me. But over all I thought this was a satisfying gangster flick with the Bogart and Cagney of their generation in top form. Good work by all the supporting players too, especially on the bad guy side. Particularly good was Jon Voight in a limited role.