Why the
names of the two main characters put together is the name of the lead
singer of Motley Crue I'll never know but...
Neil McCauley is a professional criminal who has earned a living with big "scores". After pulling off an armored car heist in which three guards are killed, he and his cohorts find they have the heat hot on their tail in the form of Vincent Hanna, an LAPD detective with an obsession for his work in catching crooks like Neil. Now on the verge of pulling off his biggest heist, Neil must decide if he's willing to take Vincent's heat or stay out of the kitchen.
Chalk up
another winner for Michael Mann, who impresses in turning a rather
mundane police potboiler into a smart, well-crafted drama. Perhaps
the film is 30 minutes too long, and might have been better if it
focused solely on Vincent and Neil instead of giving screen time to
the home lives of some of Neil's cohorts, but for every needless
character and scene there is another moment of greatness to follow.
De Niro and Pacino are as good as you'd expect (i.e. great) and the
supporting cast is impressive in their smaller roles (even rapper
Tone Loc chips in with a decent performance). Fans of De Niro and
Pacino will be a bit disappointed that when their heroes finally do a
film together, they share only two scenes, but they rank among the
two best scenes in the film so it's hard to gripe. Only some editing
out of characters and scenes keeps HEAT from being a crime-drama
classic.
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