Heat (1995)

“Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner….” – Neil McCauley, 1995

And that’s the apparent thesis for one of the most beloved films of the past thirty years spoken by living legend Robert DeNiro sitting across from fellow living legend Al Pacino.  Or is it really the main theme of the movie?  Maybe it’s just something cool-sounding that a tough guy says but doesn’t really follow through on….director Michael Mann examines that very question among so many others during this almost three hour crime epic focusing on the brewing conflict between two self-obsessed master tacticians on both sides of the law…and the women who love them….along with every one else whose lives they impact.  This STACKED cast also includes Val Kilmer, Diana Venora, Amy Brenneman, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Wes Studi, Dennis Haysbert, Mykelti Williamson, Danny Trejo, and Ted Levine among SO many others.  Let’s find out if the action IS really the juice…..

WARNING: ADULT LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT MOVIE CLIPS

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

HEAT - 1995

Directed by Michael Mann (Audio clip)

Starring Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, Diane Venora, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, Danny Trejo, William Fichtner, Kevin Gage, Tom Noonan, Hank Azaria, Kim Staunton, and Natalie Portman 

Genre: Crime Epic

Welcome to my review of the movie that folks in my particular demographic group can NEVER shut the F up about!  GUILTY….guilty as charged as I am part of this group. (Which means I’m allowed to make fun of them) - I was a Heat-head (or hothead?) before it became cool. I was a college sophomore on winter break working at a multiplex in December of ’95 when this first came out - I thought it was a masterpiece from the first time I saw it and like all pretentious college nerds, I was NOT shy about it. 

"Miss, you want to see Jumanji....you know Heat is a LOT better actually...no it's not that violent, I'm sure your eight year old will really enjoy it!" was sometimes overheard when yours truly was working at the box office. For several months after release, I was OBSESSED with finding the specific version of Moby's "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" heard over the end credits of this movie...his album version didn't have that crescendo that made this version so cool, it was to no avail. 🙁 Thirteen years later, I was one of those smart-asses who when The Dark Knight was blowing up all over back in '08 would always have the snarky retort, "Yeah I liked The Dark Knight....I liked it even better when it was called Heat."

Speaking of which, folks like myself among The Cult of Heat just LOOOOOVE to point which other films have been influenced by it…..and we’re generally also suckers for these films too as we have seen a steady stream of them over the past twenty years.  Of course there’s The Dark Knight….Comic Book Heath, The Town….Bah-ston Heat…Public Enemies….Mann’s own Prohibition Era Heat, previous episode Law Abiding Citizen…bat-shit Philly Heat, The Prestige…..Victorian Era Magician Heat, American Gangster….Vietnam Era Harlem Heat, and….most recently…..Den of Thieves which featured Gerard Butler in the Pacino role….I like to call that one Diet Heat.  What all of these films share is a basic core presence: An often stone-faced ex-con criminal mastermind leading a tight crew planning ONE last heist and/or large-scale crime….being pursued by a burned out, often alcoholic obsessed career detective trying to take him down with his OWN crew.  

In the instance of Heat, we have Al Pacino playing Lt. Vincent Hannah on the trail of Neil McCauley played by Robert DeNiro.  We’re talking two of the greatest actors of the past half-century facing off against each other for the first time on the big screen….yes they were both in Godfather Part II but they never shared scenes in that movie.  You would think just two alone are what make this movie such a big deal…..that this whole shebang was just an elaborate chess game between these two, which a lot of it is.  But it’s even more than that.

The film itself is a gloriously self-conscious epic tale of self-obsessed master tacticians on both sides of crime - cops and robbers - and the women who love them. It's certainly not lost on anyone that Diane Venora as Justine (playing Pacino’s third wife) gets the most complicated dialogue –(Audio clip) she's the heart of the movie, the voice of reason, and it's kind of a thankless role when pitted against Pacino being bombastic and DeNiro being tough guy cool. You still need her character and Venora plays it very smart - she's overwritten in parts but that's the point...I don't think Michael Mann is going for subtlety with these characters and from a casting standpoint, he landed a group of thoroughbreds who each NAIL their roles out of the gate....

 The two leads dominate the screen as they should but this film simply doesn't work without all of other players making the most of their limited screentime: the eminently quotable Tom Sizemore, –(Audio clip) Danny Trejo, Bill Fichtner, Ashley Judd,....Henry Rollins, Tone Loc (hey he's a lot better in this than he was in Ace Ventura)....Portman, Tom Noonan, Hank Azaria...and of course Kevin Gage as the unforgettable Waingro, the smug sociopath who really sets the whole plot in motion. –(Audio clip) You could devote entire spin-off movies to any of these characters which would likely be pretty interesting! 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Heat has a soundtrack filled with almost ALL instrumental tracks.  To quote the New York Times, because I really can’t say it better myself, the soundtrack was “an artfully assembled montage of industrial rock, darkly romantic symphonics, and moody jazz guitar.”  You see, Elliot Goldenthal composed an intense, moody score for this film which has its share of highlights but…..he also had a lot of collaborators.  Nothing against his craft but for me, many of the highlights came from his collaborators though you would be forgiven for not being able to tell their tracks apart from his score…..I’ll narrow the best ones down to My Top Three for Heat.

#3 – This one comes about a third of the way into the movie when we see DeNiro’s McCauley sitting proudly during a big dinner night out with his fellow crew of thieves AND their wives….and children….at a big fancy restaurant…..because that’s what master criminals do?!  Well never mind, it’s still cool to see them out…..but McCauley is also the only one there alone.  And it dawns on Neil that maybe it’s time for him to find that special someone whom HE can share moments like these with…..and as it turns out, he just recently met a lovely but mousy graphic designer/bookstore clerk named Edie played by Amy Brenneman in a nice, subtle performance.  As the dinner’s winding down, we start to hear this hopeful guitar-driven music kicks in and Neil decides to excuse himself to give her a call….arrange for their next date and tell her that he can’t wait to see her.  In a film loaded with tough guy talk and/or threats of violence, it’s likely the sweetest moment and the rare one when we see McCauley let his guard down if just for a few moments.  The wistful music we’re hearing over this whole sequence comes from Canadian guitarist, music producer, and inventor Michael Brook….and the song is called, “Ultramarine.” (Audio clip) 

#2 – England’s own Brian Eno is probably one of the most influential figures in the history of ambient music, even within the world of pop music – he always fancied himself a “non-musician” even though he excelled at both guitar and keyboard.  He originally helped form the glam-rock group Roxy Music in the ‘70’s before going on to produce many of my favorite songs from the likes of Talking Heads, U2, and the underrated British rock band James.  He has always specialized in percussion-heavy atmospheric music and of course, his contribution to the Heat soundtrack certainly falls into that category.  The track is called “Force Marker” and it is a VERY tense piece of music playing over a VERY tense sequence in the movie…..right around the 100 minute mark in the lead-up to THE big bank heist which is the pivot point of the movie.  We’ll get to this sequence a bit later in another category - the track is called "Force Marker.” (Audio clip)  

#1 – Yup I mentioned this one earlier – it’s Moby’s "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" and it remains one of THE best closing needle-drops I have witnessed firsthand in the theater.  I mean watching this, hearing this….it’s a bittersweet conclusion to a sprawling epic closing on ONE image, one man on the holding the hand of another man on the ground who just died….at his hand.  In a dark place with plans flying overhead.  It’s the kind of transcendent moment which only the best filmmakers can aspire to….Michael Mann EARNED this ending and he did so partially by selecting a perfect piece of music by Richard Melville Hall to accompany it.  This composition starts out simply with just some straightforward piano notes and builds with orchestration….and as the screen turns black, the song hits a crescendo as we see the title in glowing white letter “A Michael Mann Film.” Mann himself has yet to win an Oscar and no doubt he deserves several but how could ANY live moment at the Kodak Theater top this?? (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

You could make a case that Heat has an excess of interesting characters in this movie played well by top-flight actors, though considering how tight this film is, I would be hard-pressed to say any of them are “wasted.”  Soooo…along those lines….and yes I’m taking some inspiration from Bill Simmon’s Rewatchable’s podcast here – if Heat were to be remade as a ten episode streaming show, these might be a few characters I would like to see an entire episode devoted to:

Dennis Haysbert makes the most of limited screentime as Donald, the recent ex-con working at a greasy spoon restaurant - we only check in with his character a few times and it's hard NOT to be moved by his character's story. (Audio clip) So why not devote one episode to his days at Folsom when he was friends or maybe even partners with McCauley?  Waingro episode exploring his creepy journey through LA’s crime underworld?? DONE! (Audio clip)And one of my favorite character actors Wes Studi plays Detective Casales who’s part of Hannah’s crew….and possibly its secret weapon.  Casales doesn’t get much dialogue but you can tell that he’s the only other member of who MIGHT be as obsessed as Hannah is (Audio clip)….and we KNOW he’s the best shot: during the post-heist shootout, it’s CASALES who both nabs the tires of the get-away car with his shotgun and Kilmer’s Chris, almost killing him.  This is a man of action, he deserves to lead at least ONE case….maybe while Hannah’s on leave for drug rehab? (Audio clip)

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie): 

There are two PARTICULAR scenes which are always mentioned amidst discussion of Heat  One of course is the trailblazing post-bank heist shootout between McCauley’s crew and the police in downtown LA – they used ACTUAL gunshots at their natural high-decibel sound levels during the filming of of this sequence, you could hear the reverberations dozens of blocks away.  It’s a truly spectacular action sequence and it’s all driven by character no less….we witness the hypocrisy of Sizemore’s Cherito - who up until this point has been portrayed as a doting father of some cute little kids - fleeing the scene with enough desperation that he feels the need to grab a young little girl for cover.  And…..we see how sheer ego takes over Vincent Hannah as he pushes forward in his pursuit, barely batting an eye at his long-time partner Bosko taking a shot in the neck and falling on the ground bleeding profusely.  Bosko was played by the always engaging Ted Levine and his character’s death is among at least two which are STILL rough to watch during this shootout – you FEEL every shot, it’s that good!

The second oft-mentioned one is of course the late night coffee sit-down between McCauley and Hannah – Pacino and DeNiro FACE-TO-FACE for the first time on screen, it was teased in the trailers, and sure enough……I can definitely recall the anticipation of dozens of folks within my opening day audience just shifting forward in their seats as soon as Pacino pulls DeNiro over and walks over to his window with a simple request.  (Audio clip) And the simple, elegant exchange which follows between our protagonist and antagonist has often been imitated but NEVER equaled. (Audio clip)  

And yet NEITHER of these are my particular favorite in Heat as great as they are.  Nope that would be an earlier sequence when Hannah’s crew are drawn to investigate a large open area surrounded by storage containers that through surveillance, they saw MCCAULEY’S crew casing just earlier that day.  So we see our crew of cops ambling around in frustration trying to figure what is just SO important about this particular spot….and then it dawns on Hannah as to why they were drawn to this place….what he says is priceless…..the shot up to DeNiro WAY above them shooting photos of the cops on his trail…..and the punchline of the scene ends up being one simple profane expression from Pacino.  What’s so great about this scene is not only how funny it is but just how perfectly it demystifies each sides of this burgeoning conflict  At the end of the day, Hannah and McCauley are STILL just little boys playing cops and robbers….and until folks start really getting hurt, it’s all very innocent. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film): 

Pacino just DEVOURS the screen in the best way – his Vincent is a showboat with a purpose and if nothing else, his histrionics help keep this film humming.  And amidst all of the bluster, we still see his humanity seep through….especially in those later scenes alongside Portman as his stepdaughter.

Whereas DeNiro gives what I think is one of his best performances, even though it’s much quieter.  His McCauley is tightly wound, efficient, and just a FORCE when he needs to be and yet….especially in his latter scenes with Brenneman (gee are we seeing a pattern here?), we see more and more how underneath, he’s starting to collapse under the weight of this life.  It’s hard NOT to feel for this character towards the end even though it’s become clear that ONLY he brought himself to this ending.  

But really when it comes to selecting the true MVP of Heat, there is only ONE Mann for the job….Michael Mann.  In the twenty years leading up to this film’s release, he clearly had a vision for this story that he was developing over time and tapping into through various projects – doing research for his first TV movie The Jericho Mile, he got to know many convicts at Folsom Prison and would eventually end up hiring at least one of them (Eddie Bunker) as a consultant for future films including previous episode Thief.  Doing research over time, he also became friends with Chuck Adamson, the Chicago police detective who would be the inspiration for Pacino’s Vincent Hannah.

And eventually in the first half of the ‘90’s in the wake of the success of The Last of the Mohicans, he just pulled everything together to bring his dream project to life…..and no doubt, he had some fantastic collaborators on this one including legendary DP Dante Spinotti (who has worked on most of Mann’s other films) and a team of four count’em FOUR editors to help piece together this gargantuan movie: Pasquale Buba, William Goldenberg, Dov Hoenig, and Tom Rolf.  The fruits of everyone’s labor was clearly up there on the screen….but he was clearly THE ringmaster who pulled this whole circus together armed with more personal knowledge of BOTH sides of the law than any filmmaker really should have.  Fair or not, everything Mann has directed before or since now falls under this film's shadow – he has directed several great films but for delivering what is likely his masterpiece, Michael Mann is the MVP.

Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In the pantheon of crime dramas, I would easily place Heat on the Mount Rushmore of Crime Dramas, right alongside The Godfather, Goodfellas, and City of God.  And before anyone shouts, “Hey what about Pulp Fiction???” I say RELAX….I love Pulp Fiction but it’s as much of a comedy as a drama…

Streaming on AMC & DirecTV

And that ends another LARGE-TYPE review!