One of the most overrated movies in cinema history!

Rating: 3/10 (27 August 2006)

First off, I'll come right out and say that I've only ever seen two of Michael Mann's other movies: Collateral and The Last Of The Mohicans, both of which were entertaining but did not impress me overall. I'm no expert on his work, but he seems to have a knack for taking fairly talented actors and turning them into one-dimensional versions of themselves on screen.
Heat is a perfect example of that talent. We have a huge cast of famous actors, each one morphed into a character that ultimately offers no kind of sympathy with the viewer (at least this viewer). Mann tries so hard to give his characters some kind of emotional value that the actors end up looking like cardboard cutouts of every other role they have played in their illustrious careers.
Why does the director feel the need to delve into the lives of EACH AND EVERY CHARACTER in this flick? He easily added at least 45 minutes of time to a movie that is essentially of the action/crime genre, where character development is not necessarily as important as it would be in a romance or drama. Come on, dwelling on the fact that Natalie Portman's character had some parental issues, or that a minor player in the plot may in fact be a serial killer, or the fact that the getaway driver's wife is distraught over his death, is gratuitous at best. It only adds length to a film that already way too long to make it worth sitting through.
Which comes to my next gripe- this is the first crime movie I have EVER watched where I felt the need to fast-forward through certain scenes that I felt were dragged out too much, which was about 1/3 of the flick. It's really too bad, because Heat certainly had it's moments: the café scene between De Niro and Pacino was outstanding, as were the shoot-out and the final chase scene. If only Mann had concentrated on giving the rest of the movie the same level of intensity, I could have possibly found Heat to be one of my favorites of all time. The director should stick to what he knows best- action. Although I suppose you can't expect too much from the guy who helmed Miami Vice, one of the cheesiest t.v. shows ever made.
Mann should have looked at some other action/crime flicks, such as True Romance or Leon: The Professional to see how character development should really be done- colorful, well-balanced, and efficient. Although he did verify what I have always though about Robert De Niro; if you can make millions of dollars a movie just by hanging around on screen with your mouth open like a kid just off the short bus, then I guess there's hope for everybody to make a career out of acting.
3 out of 10 stars just for the good parts, 1 out of 10 stars for making me wish I had been doing something else for the 172 minutes it took me to finish this yawn-inducer.