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Posts Tagged ‘Michael Mann’

Told You I’m Never Goin’ Back

Posted in General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged Al Pacino, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Chris Shiherlis, Diane Venora, General Comments, Heat (1995) — movie review, Highly Recommended Movie, Jon Voight, LA International Airport, LAPD, LAX, Los Angeles, Lt. Vincent Hanna, Michael Cheritto, Michael Mann, Movie Reviews, Neil McCauley, Reviews, Robert DeNiro, Tom Sizemore, Val Kilmer on March 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“Heat” (1995) — movie review
Today’s review is for the crime-drama “Heat” (1995), written and directed by Michael Mann and stars Al Pacino as Lt. Vincent Hanna, the obsessive, sleep-deprived LAPD robbery-homicide detective whose personal life is barely holding together; Robert DeNiro as Neil McCauley, the disciplined, methodical career thief who lives by a strict code and keeps everyone at arm’s length; Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, McCauley’s trusted right hand, a brilliant but self-destructive gunman whose gambling and marriage problems keep spilling into the job; Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto, the steady, loyal crew member who treats crime like a profession; Jon Voight as Nate, the fixer who supplies intel, fences goods, and keeps the crew connected; Ashley Judd as Charlene (Chris’s wife); Amy Brenneman as Eady (Neil’s unexpected love interest); Diane Venora as Justine (Hanna’s wife); and Natalie Portman as Lauren (Justine’s daughter). The film follows two men on opposite sides of the law whose lives collide as a series of high‑stakes robberies escalate across Los Angeles.

Background: This is my first viewing of “Heat” and was based on the recommendation of my brother-in-law and the fact I generally like both Pacino and DeNiro. LoL. Even though this was my first viewing, instead of letting the movie flow and come to me, I really tried to pay attention to the details: the relationships, the pacing, and the way Mann builds tension without rushing anything. Released in 1995, the film wasn’t a huge awards contender (no Oscar nominations), but I’ve read it has become one of the most influential crime films of the last thirty years. Its historic significance is straightforward: it brought Pacino and DeNiro together in a shared scene for the first time, set a new standard for urban crime realism, and delivered one of the most famous shootouts in movie history. The film also helped define the “professional criminal vs. professional cop” genre for a generation of filmmakers.

Plot: Neil McCauley leads a tight, disciplined crew that specializes in high-risk, high-reward robberies. After a job goes sideways because of an unstable new recruit (Waingro), Hanna and his LAPD team begin closing in. The film follows both men as they juggle personal problems (Hanna’s collapsing marriage and McCauley’s unexpected relationship with Eady) while preparing for bigger and riskier scores. The story builds toward a downtown Los Angeles bank robbery that erupts into a massive street firefight, followed by a cat-and-mouse chase as McCauley tries to escape the city. The final act brings the two men face-to-face at LAX, where their parallel lives finally intersect for the last time.

So, is this movie any good? How’s the acting? The filming / FX? Any problems? And, did I enjoy the film? Short answers: Yes; excellent across the board; outstanding and influential; a few; absolutely.

Any good? Yes. “Heat” is one of the better crime dramas. Although it’s long, deliberate, and built around character more than action, the payoff is worth it. The film treats both sides (cops and criminals) with equal seriousness, showing how similar their lives are even as they chase each other. The story is big, but it never feels overly bloated. It’s a movie that rewards attention and patience.

Acting: Pacino and DeNiro are both terrific, but in very different ways. Pacino plays Hanna as a man running on fumes — intense, scattered, and barely keeping his personal life together. DeNiro is the opposite: calm, controlled, and precise. Their diner scene is famous for a reason — two pros at the top of their game. Kilmer gives one of his better performances as Chris, balancing competence with chaos. Sizemore is solid as Cheritto, and Voight brings quiet authority as Nate. The supporting cast — Judd, Brenneman, Venora, Portman — all add weight to the personal stakes. Nobody feels wasted.

Filming / FX: The film looks great, especially for the mid-90s. Mann uses Los Angeles almost like a character: wide night shots, empty streets, and a cool, metallic color palette. The sound design in the bank-heist shootout is still impressive today. It’s loud, sharp, and realistic. The action scenes are clean and easy to follow, with no shaky-cam nonsense. The movie has a very “lived-in” feel, from the apartments to the diners to the industrial backdrops.

Problems: A few. The movie is long (almost three hours), and some of the subplots (particularly the relationship arcs) feel slow when you’re (I was) expecting a straight action film. A couple of the side characters get less development than they seem to deserve. The film’s pacing feels uneven on a first viewing. But none of these issues hurt the overall experience.

Did I enjoy the film? Absolutely. This is one of those movies I think probably gets better with repeated viewings. The characters feel real, the action is grounded, and the story has emotional feeling. Even knowing how it ends, the final chase will still work. It’s a film that you likely remember.

Final Recommendation: High recommendation. “Heat” is a landmark crime drama — influential, well-acted, and still impressive thirty years later. It didn’t win Oscars, but its legacy is obvious in many every crime films that followed. Rated R for violence and language, it’s not for younger (children) viewers, but for adults who enjoy character-driven crime stories, this is at least a near must-see. Watch it for Pacino and DeNiro, the bank-heist / shoot-out sequence, and the reminder that a well-crafted story doesn’t need to rush to make an impact.

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Click here (20 March) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Nerd Heard – And Good-Bye

Posted in Diets, Eat To Live, Movies, Running, Walking, tagged Blake Lively, Chuck, Chuck Finale, Diets, Downton Abbey, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Eat To Live, Fat Sick And Nearly Dead, Fat Sick And Nearly Dead - movie review, Green Lantern, Green Lantern - movie review, Jeffster, Michael Mann, Nerd Herd, Peter Strauss, Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Walker, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Jericho Mile, The Jericho Mile - movie review, The Proposal on January 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This week was kind of a potpourri of mostly great entertainment: I started off the week with an episode of Downton Abbey – exceptional British drama on PBS. It’s the second season and the future heir is off to the trenches of France. If you haven’t seen season one (and now, season two), you don’t know what you’re missing…

I finally got around to watching my DVD copy of “Green Lantern“. I saw the movie in the theater back in June and my review (“In Brightest Day…“) was positive. I’m a bit undecided on if the DVD translates to the smaller screen as well as some other grand-scale movies, but I think it’s pretty favorable. I’m not sure why, but the movie seemed longer than I remembered it being in the theater – but it had also had a lot more action than I remember. I’m not sure about Ryan Reynolds (the lead). Some times he seemed to fit the character perfectly, and others, nope – don’t buy it at all. The female love interest is played by Blake Lively, who seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place at all until I looked her up. She was in the “*Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants*” movie, which I have seen but don’t recall. I just remember her being a soccer player or something. Anyway, now she reminds me of a young Jennifer Connally – meaning the camera loves her. Hopefully, she can get some serious roles and we’ll find out if she has real chops or not. I’m not sure if we’ll ever say that about Reynolds. He’s in his mid-30’s now, so if he doesn’t start playing some serious roles soon, I’m not sure he ever will. All in all, I still give the movie a favorable review and will watch it again soon.

One other comment on Reynolds. I saw him opposite Sandra Bullock in “The Proposal“, and I thought he did very well in that role too. Unfortunately, I’d say that role was more comedic than serious. Not that a comic-book hero is comedic or serious, but you know what I mean…

On Wednesday I went for my first walk / slow jog in ages at the gym at work. It felt so good I came home and watched “The Jericho Mile” again (see my review). Still a great little made for TV movie. Still inspirational. Kudos to Michael Mann and Peter Strauss!!

Friday night I watched the two-hour ending of the TV series “Chuck“. I remember watching this series when it first started five years ago. It was the funniest (Nerd Herd), best written, sexiest (Sarah Walker), spy-spoof (Jeffster saves the General), crime-fighting series I’d seen in ages. The finale crystalized in my mind the fallacy that nerds are socially inept loners. In fact, nerds do herd! And in herding, nerds gather strength. (They also become even more nerdier…) In the end, it took the whole team – including the Jeffster – to defeat evil and save the world as we know it (or want it to be) – a happy ending for the nerds.

Full disclosure time: way back in the second season, when it looked like the show was going to be cancelled, I was one of the fans who went to Subway (well, actually three Subways), bought a sandwich and asked the store manager to let the company know I liked their support of “Chuck” and hoped they’d keep the show on the air. Two had no idea what I was talking about. They didn’t even know Subway had product placement in the series!! The third said he’d already had several people stop in and ask for him to support “Chuck” with a message to the head company.

Power to the nerds!!!

Last night, I also watched a documentary on diet and health titled: “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead“. It’s an excellent movie about how we are killing ourselves with the food we eat. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, of “Eat To Live” fame, plays a prominent role in the movie explaining how we’re killing ourselves and how we can make a recovery. The “interesting” thing to me is that his book says you need to eat the fruit and vegetables to get their goodness, but the movie says you can do it by simply juicing them. My “gut-feeling” is (pun intended) that the book is correct and the movie less so, but still reasonably healthy. To make a long story shorter, today I went out and bought a juicer. Now the next step is …

Off to the store to get my fruit and veggies.

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Click here (28 January) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.