Heat movie review

Michael Mann's "Heat" is an interesting film - two kindred spirits on two sides of the law living two different lives; or are they?

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro star in what is a very good, though not necessarily great, film.

First things first, props go to the whole cast, who did a solid job acting out what is an above average script, though dialogue is something else (this film does to metaphors what "Gilmore Girls" and "Juno" do to quick/snappy wit). Slight tangent - the use of metaphors is almost on the level of pretentiousness found in Paul Haggis' more recent films; more on this complaint later. Going back to the actors, there are a lot of recognizable names and people in the cast such as Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, William Fichtner, Dennis Haysbert, Jon Voight, Danny Trejo, Natalie Portman and even a cameo by Tom Noonan. Solid.

Second prop goes to composer Elliot Goldenthal and his score for the film, which adds some nice background melody (though no real themes) that really enhances the scenes.

Third prop goes to the research for the film and how it's based on real events/people.

Complaint time: as previously mentioned, I have some issues with the dialogue in the film. Most of the dialogue from Diane Venora (Pacino's film wife) doesn't really seem to fit the character, or if it does, it still doesn't sound very human, i.e. it's trying to be too poetic/dramatic/etc. In particular, one of the first argument scenes between Venora and Pacino seems rather out-of-place in terms of dialogue.

Issue two: length. I have no problem with a 3 hour film, so long as the pacing and everything is fine. For the most part, the pacing is OK, but the first hour tends to drag, and numerous scenes had me either questioning their significance or if the pacing could have been better. For instance, the hospital scene towards the end - I understand the point (that Pacino's character will never change), but couldn't it have been done in a fast/more interesting way? Of course, there's always the possibility that some of the more superfluous scenes were added to make others stand out more. Considering how this is Michael Mann, and his films tend to have a few good brilliant sequences among an outnumbering OK ones, I doubt it's him so much trying to build up a future scene as it is his writing skills.

In any case, "Heat" is definitely a watchable film, and for the most part picks up a lot after the first hour. There are several amazing sequences throughout the film, such as the single take that starts with a shot of downtown LA at night then transitions down to a moving van (when they are hijacking security, or whatever), the finale (of which the ultimate ending feels a little cheap), Pacino and De Niro's diner encounter, and, of course, the bank sequence (though how they all managed to survive so long is anybody's guess).