Is HEAT the apotheosis of Michael Mann's career? A rewatch substantially substantiates it is the case. Amid the dark blue cityscape of Los Angeles, which so vividly, astoundingly pervades the garden-variety cops-and-robbers milieu, Manns' morally ambiguousconstruct is vigorous and coruscating.
Two warring posses, respectively headed by Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino) and criminal mastermind Neil McCauley (De Niro), are mirroring images, putting their lives on the line when in action, meticulously professional in what they are doing, enjoying collegial after- hour get-togethers, the mere discrepancy is that they straddle on the opposite sides of the law. Vincent and Neil meet in midstream, operate a candid tête-à-tête in a diner (the much fêted first-time scene-sharing of two Hollywood titans) to flag up how similar both men are. Now, of course, it is a timeworn argument, but that doesn't obscure the genuine admiration mutually betrayed by two alpha males, the ultimate masculine hubris, with a license to kill, a man must snuff another self to emerges as a victor, lamenting the passing with a symbolic understanding, isn't it a whiff of nacissism?
For a nearly 3-hour epic, HEAT isn't an action-packed juggernaut, but each set piece is a textbook specimen of how breakneck action should be choreographed, acted, shot and edited, all merged into one frictionless fluidity. The most striking example is the rampant crossfire after a bank robbery, out in the open, bullets flying, bystanders panicking, casualty arising and stakes escalating, a white-knuckle rat-a-tat-tat pomp effects a vicarious, transfixing impact on its viewers. Each movement of the action is captured with crisp clarity and audience is never befogged by what it is happening, who is doing what, unlike more recent actioners, the whole shebang is visualized logically and realistically to a T.
On the drama front, Mann is never notable for characterization, but in HEAT the gender dynamism is on the right temperature. Both Vincent and Neil, plus Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer), the latter's right-hand man, are anything but the marrying kind a woman expects. Neil has a quasi-fairy-tale romance with a comely woman Eady (Brenneman), when the whopper bursts, he has to bare all his heart to convince her that she is “the one”, but does she? Brenneman has some daunting incredulous scenes to pull off, however, we are sold on it mainly on account of Neil's unaffected earnestness, and his lone-wolf charisma, the loneliness underneath that hardened front of vigilance, sangfroid and precision, De Niro exhibits an almost perfect flair to bowl us over, and he makes it deceitfully effortless.
By comparison Pacino is on the back foot as his propensity of bellowing takes a few steps too far in Vincent's monomania (sometimes it even borders on caricature, those scarily bulging eyes!), his hunger to police justice and outmaneuver malefactors. Still, he gets ample story to fully inhabit Vincent's multifaceted personhood, aided by an equally doughty Diane Venora as his wife Justine, who scornfully fights a losing battle to win Vincent over his idée fixe, and finally can come to term with him, but at what cost? Natalie Portman plays her unstable daughter from a previous marriage.
As for Chris, Kilmer goes reticent but explosive, evinces panache galore when he maneuvers heavy machinery or weaponry, affectionately reminds us once he was a “hot thing”, and Judd as his wife Charlene has one shining moment near the coda, a life- saving gesture that speaks louder than any words.
For what it is worth, HEAT ages remarkably well, its immeasurable craft remains a gargantuan exemplar for any emulator to plunder, but never be surpassed. Even the prickly presentation of racial diversity and heteronormative relationships is less prominent than the majority of its contemporaries (Mann's script adds extra sympathy to the minority roles). If Vincent is saved by an aircraft's catchlight, HEAT is saved by a masterful aesthete who fully embraces his vision and thankfully, is not impinged by a second-rate machination of a cat-and-mouse boilerplate.
referential entries: Mann's MAHUNTER (1986, 7.4/10); COLLATERAL (2004, 7.4/10).
Title: Heat
Year: 1995
Country: USA
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director/Screenwriter: Michael Mann
Music: Elliot Goldenthal
Cinematography: Dante Spinotti
Editing: Pasquale Buba, William Goldenberg, Dov Hoenig, Tom Rolf
Cast:
Al Pacino
Robert De Niro
Val Kilmer
Diane Venora
Amy Brenneman
Jon Voight
Tom Sizemore
Ashley Judd
Kevin Gage
William Fichtner
Wes Study
Mykelti Williamson
Dennis Haysbert
Kim Staunton
Ted Levine
Natalie Portman
Tom Noonan
Hank Azaria
Danny Trejo
Ricky Harris
Tone Loc
Hazelle Goodman
Jerry Trimble
Susan Taylor
Henry Rollins
Jeremy Piven
Xander Berkeley
Rating: 8.3/10
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