I didn’t want to see this film initially. Its tagline was “A Los Angeles crime saga”. Michael Mann, the director of this film, created Miami Vice, and I thought this was going to be like that. But after some prodding from my sister (who knows my tastes very well), she said I would love this film.
Lo and behold, it’s a masterpiece. It’s an epic film (171 minutes), and it covers a hell of a lot of terrority. The characters seem like real people, not just caricatures. Films in the 1990’s (Pulp Fiction for example) had characters in them that weren’t very real, they were just there to mouth supposedly “cool” dialogue and kill indiscrimately.
Here there is a real, morally ambiguous vibe going on between De Niro and Pacino. While they are different sides of the law, they are pretty much the same. Their personal lives are royally screwed up, they’re very lonely workaholics, and they are really 2 worried souls. Pacino, luckily, doesn’t overact too much, and De Niro is superb as usual. And the supporting cast is just as good. There is not one false note in this film. The bank heist and shootout is one of the greatest action scenes ever, and its staging and execution are superb.
A film with great depth and character, very uncharacteristic of the 1990’s.
Cast
- Al Pacino as Lt. Vincent Hanna
- Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley
- Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis
- Jon Voight as Nate
- Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto
- Diane Venora as Justine Hanna
- Amy Brenneman as Eady
- Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis
- Mykelti Williamson as Sgt. Drucker
- Wes Studi as Det. Casals
- Ted Levine as Det. Bosko
Tags: Heat