With all the terrible performances they’ve given in forgettable movies over the past few decades, it can be easy to forget just how brilliant actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino really are.
While they both still offer occasional glimpses of their formidable abilities, as far as I’m concerned, the last truly great performance from either actor came in the same movie 30 years ago: “Heat.”
De Niro and Pacino shared the screen for the first time in writer-director Michael Mann’s brilliant crime thriller, and their showdown remains just as fascinating to watch now as it was in 1995.
De Niro and Pacino are at the center of “Heat,” playing a master thief and the committed cop tracking him down, but there’s far more to Mann’s epic film than two acting legends at the top of their game. It’s one of the best crime movies ever made, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.
‘Heat’ is a sprawling saga of cops and criminals
At nearly three hours long, “Heat” takes time to explore the personal lives of its main characters as well as follow the procedural details of their jobs, and that adds up to an expansive portrayal of determined men on both sides of the law.
De Niro plays Neil McCauley, leader of a crew of expert thieves who build up to the proverbial one big score, robbing more than $12 million from a busy Los Angeles bank. Val Kilmer plays Neil’s right-hand man, Chris Shiherlis, with Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo and Dennis Haysbert as the other members of the team.
Both Neil and his LAPD adversary, Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino), sacrifice the possibility of healthy relationships in pursuit of their chosen professions, and that lack of a true connection takes its toll on them.
Both men attempt to reach out to women in their lives, only to pull away when it matters most. The emotional cost of obsession is one of the central themes of “Heat,” and none of the characters are able to escape that cost.
They distract themselves with elaborate plans for heists and surveillance operations, and Mann stages multiple bravura action sequences and tense set pieces.
The movie begins with a thrilling, brutal hijacking of an armored car, and the chaotic shootout following the central bank robbery is one of the most intense, visceral action scenes of the ’90s. Mann’s approach to action is clear and concise, the opposite of the frenetic quick cutting that so many big-budget filmmakers relied on during the same era.
Mann doesn’t just deliver exciting explosions and car chases — he makes every bullet and collision count. The collateral damage in the bank shootout is just as viscerally upsetting as the danger to the main characters.
‘Heat’ mixes action with surprisingly raw emotion
“I’m alone — I’m not lonely,” Neil tells graphic designer Eady (Amy Brenneman), but it’s clear that every man in “Heat” is lonely, and most of them don’t know how to deal with it.
Mann’s male characters are often startlingly vulnerable, even when acknowledging their own inability to fully open up.
Neil meets Eady at a bar and suddenly seems to reconsider his mantra of never having anything in his life he can’t leave behind within 30 seconds, and Mann stages some beautiful, quiet romantic moments between them, although their romance is clearly doomed.
Vincent’s marriage to Justine (Diane Venora) is just as doomed, and while Neil may fool himself for a while that he can create a new life with Eady, Vincent is honest with Justine that she will never matter as much to him as his work. Still, he forms a tender bond with Justine’s daughter Lauren (Natalie Portman), in perhaps the only pure communion with another human being that he can muster.
For Chris, his devotion to his wife, Charlene (Ashley Judd,) could lead to his downfall, but he can’t imagine life without her. “For me, the sun rises and sets with her,” he tells Neil, and Neil simply accepts and understands his declaration.
These are macho guys, but that doesn’t mean that they denigrate each other for having feelings or caring about the people in their lives.
De Niro and Pacino make ‘Heat’ into a classic
As rich and rewarding as Mann’s exploration of romantic entanglements can be, the main appeal of “Heat” remains the interplay between Neil and Vincent. They only have one major dialogue scene together, at almost exactly halfway through the movie, when Vincent stops Neil’s car and invites him to chat over a cup of coffee.
The two men are wary but respectful, understanding how much they have in common but also emphasizing their lack of hesitation in taking each other out.
That single scene is enough to demonstrate the genius of De Niro and Pacino as actors, but they give excellent performances throughout the film, whether in quiet, heartbreaking moments or in big, blustery outbursts.
Mann knows exactly how to make use of their complementary talents, placing them at the center of his own layered, ambitious masterpiece.
“Heat” is now streaming on Netflix.
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