Favourite Crime Movie Ever

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2015)

Heat is practically a masterstroke. It is a timeless crime movie unlike any other. While the plot at first glance feels standard, writer/director Michael Mann, remaking his 1989 TV movie LA Takedown, takes the story of the pursuit between a group of professional thieves and a police unit chasing them around Los Angeles and dissects it in a near unparalleled manner.
He not only gives you a series of great, powerful scenes but these are interspersed with the stories of the personal lives of the two lead characters and just about all of the supporting ones too, bringing yet more life and diversity to the finely written story. For example, we see that Al Pacino's detective Vincent Hanna is suffering through a disintegrating third marriage with a depressed step-daughter. We also see that Robert de Niro's (very) thoughtful and slightly sociopathic crook Neil McCauley has a soft side to him, as he descends into a relationship with the beautiful and lonely Eady (Amy Brenneman).
The acting is fantastic, even if hardly any of the actors actually shed tears to add realism. Most likely the one thing that hyped up everyone up when Heat came out was that for the first time Pacino and de Niro, two all-time greats of American cinema appear in (two) scenes together. Their 5-10 minute discussion in a coffee shop is brilliant and awesome to watch. Both actors add features to their characters that make them even more likable, such that Pacino adds some comedy and de Niro adds a little warmth, so that you want to root for his character as well. Behind the two main men, just about every supporting cast member puts dedication into their character such that it is impossible to decide who did the best job. And the cast includes familiar names and faces such as Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs), Danny Trejo(!), Diane Venora, Hank Azaria, Jon Voight and a young Natalie Portman, who appears in this just a year after her unbelievable film debut in Leon.
The cinematography in Heat is simply astounding. Michael proves to be the king of urban directing and Los Angeles is filmed in a way that it feels like a main character itself. Often the shots used will leave you gasping in amazement. And since Heat is a crime movie, when the action gets going, it is some of the most memorable and dare I say, enjoyable you'll witness in a film.
There are several heist scenes, but nothing tops it like the downtown heist in the middle of the film, followed immediately by the earth- shattering shootout in the streets. It is noted that Michael Mann decided to have no music in this scene, which helps to leave you on the end of your seat unable to comprehend what you are watching. What helps is that Mann also minimised the explicitness of the violence. Although it is still surprising and sometimes momentarily disturbing, it is bloody but usually never graphic or gory. When it is, it is shown from a distance or off-screen, so that the viewer has less chance of their head spinning.
Finally, the ending. Regarding the way the plot unfolds, it is a near-perfect way to finish off the near 3-hour epic, although I found it so heartbreaking, combined with the soundtrack God Moving Over the Face of the Waters by Moby, I almost cried the first time I saw it.
Overall, Heat is a very well written, acted, shot film that makes you wonder how it didn't win a single major award, yet regarding its status today it should have been a contender for Best Film at the Oscars, especially since it came out during the awards season. A multi-layered crime saga with the complexity and genius of a Christopher Nolan film of today (despite not being non-linear in any way). Definitely a movie you must watch before you die.
10/10