Daily Archives: December 15, 1995

Heat

There’s nothing really new in this three-hour thriller about cops (Al Pacino and others) and robbers (Robert De Niro and others) in Los Angeles, but writer-director Michael Mann’s latest has craft, pacing, and an overall sense of proportion, three pretty rare virtues nowadays. The story takes as long as it does because the big heist is actually shown rather than elided (a la Reservoir Dogs) and because the action keeps passing back and forth between Pacino and De Niro, concentrating on their personal failings as well as their professional smarts. (Both actors do creditable jobs, by the way.) With Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Val Kilmer, and Jon Voight (in what might be called the Christopher Walken part). There’s an effectively minimalist, percussive music score by Elliot Goldenthal. Lincoln Village, Golf Glen, Norridge, Old Orchard. Read more