A captivating crime saga

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2012)

After developing the proof of concept with the TV movie LA Takedown, Mann takes the idea to new heights in a nearly 3 hour crime epic. Within the confines of a mainstream, big budget Hollywood movie Mann's story is told from the perspectives of a group of bank robbers, the key policeman leading the hunt, and the wives/girlfriends of some of these characters, and the impact that the men's lifestyles has on the women in their lives.
Al Pacino, while playing his role a touch theatrically at times, is compelling as the flawed hero dealing with the impending disintegration of his third marriage to a highly troubled and depressed wife(Diane Venora), while at the same time taking on an emerging antagonist in the form of hardened but analytical bank robber McCauley, played brilliantly by Robert De Niro in a realistic and grounded way. However, an interesting extra twist is that while Hanna's marriage is in trouble, McCauley hardened exterior hides a fact that inwardly he is falling for a female artist Eady (empathically played by Amy Brenneman) who is nevertheless not initially aware of McCauley's 'job'. The interplays are further layered by interesting dynamics playing in the film which include the other bank robbers, notably gambling addict Chris (Val Kilmer) and his wife Charlene (Ashley Judd), as well as the rest of the robber 'crew', and how events in the story impact on the crew and their relationship with other criminals who the viewer comes across in the story. I was particularly taken by a small but emotionally involving subplot that involves an ex-con (Dennis Haysbert.)
This layering could have severely crowded the narrative of this film, but amazingly Mann pulls it off, producing a film that carries the viewer through the many effective subplots without losing sight of the main thrust of the story, which is a showdown between DeNiro's and Pacino's characters. This is beautifully set up through the much commented upon diner scene, which works brilliantly and prepares the audience for a terrific final two acts, which includes a truly remarkable shoot out in Los Angeles, that leaves the view horrified and captivated all at once.
While Mann's direction is outstanding, he is ably supported by several technical contributions, notably photographer Dante Spinotti, and the fabulous editing by Dov Hoenig, Pasquale Buba, Tom Rolf and William Goldenberg. Elliot Goldenthal's music, together with other musical collaborators, creates a fantastic mood and atmosphere for the film, rather than accentuating particular dramatic moments in the film, and is an evolution of the work both Jan Hammer and Tangerine Dream did in Thief and the Miami Vice TV series. Neil Spisak's production design, together with Mann's own attention to detail in prepping the cast, leads to great verisimilitude despite the very slickly shot action sequences, albeit the character development is still allowed to shine through, leading to the films emotionally satisfying if tragic finale.
An outstanding and landmark achievement, and together with The Insider, is one of the two best films from Michael Mann.