Heat sizzles through the main course, left cold at dessert.

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2001)

This was, perhaps one of the great caper films of the last 50 years, save for the ending. Rivaling Kubrick's 'The Killing' in intensity and 'Thief' in technical precision, this movie started off with a bang and kept a very real, very intense pace throughout the film, highlighted by some of the best acting performances in the careers of Portman and Kilmer. Deniro is excellent and when he's finally face to face with Pacino(first time they've had scenes together), the two play off each other as if they had acted together since the beginning. As usual, Director Mann shows he's no fool behind the lens, putting his music-video directorial sensibilities to good use, especially in the high drama action sequences. He makes good use of musicians like Brian Eno and seems to find the right music for the time. He does play fool in the ending, however, when he opts for hollywood ending as opposed to true-to-life. However, even this cannot detract too much from what truly is a gritty, interesting caper film, full of surprisingly multi-dimensional characters and a healthy blur of absolute justice. With an all-star cast and excellent directing, this movie does sizzle. I only wish there was a director's cut out there somewhere with a different ending.