Revisiting a classic - HEAT.

Revisiting A Classic – Heat.

Sometimes it feels as though we beat art down too much. If a blockbuster is just a set of huge set pieces with charismatic stars delivering them then we judge it against a slow burning drama that touches the majority of people that watch it, and guess what? Yup! The blockbuster is found wanting. Sometimes we do the opposite and when we feel the need for something fast, frenetic, fun and easy to switch off to we come against something a bit more in need of attention and that too can make us feel that the film was slow, over indulgent and pretentious.

     The truth really is that each film comes from its own little place and though you know that the genre will dictate many of the events and characters that are in the film you still know it is its own entity. Within these contexts there are words that are thrown about. ‘Terrible’. ‘Classic’. ‘Fantastic’. ‘Dull’. In the end, no film will please everyone that sees it. Even American Beauty has its detractors. Deadpool may have been right up my alley, but others hated it.

     We, the audience, can be a damn hard bunch of people to please.

     Saying all of that I do feel that some films are just a cut above the others. They stand as recognised classics that, though not loved by 100% of the film going world, are loved by the vast majority.

     ‘Heat’ is one of those films.

     Now we aren’t talking about ‘Body Heat’, the sexy thriller staring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, or even ‘Red Heat’, the 80s action film that sees Arnie playing a Russian cop in America staring with his unlikely co-star James Belushi. No. We are talking about the Michael Mann crime thriller that featured two sides of the same coin – Pacino’s police unit vs Deniro’s professional criminal crew.

     To start with, we always get into the ‘coffee shop scene’ chat - Deniro and Pacino acting opposite each, throwing loosely veiled threats and confirming that they thought that their counter-part was, for the most part, smart, driven and admirable. That’s all good and yes, I agree, amazing, but this isn’t where the film really works to get its classic status.

     We could look at Mann’s mastery of tension and pace. We could ask how a film that is over two hours and forty minutes long be sat through without a toilet break, but hell, when this juggernaught gets on the screen I defy you not to stay to the very end. Going for a piss would negatively affect the mood painstakingly generated by Mann and his stunning well-chosen main cast. And all he does in this film is indeed amazing. His opening heist, followed by the slow burn of two crews circling each other. The too and fro of the lead detective and criminal as they direct their crews to make all the right moves is brilliant. And that street gun fight? Wow. But this isn’t all that makes the film great.

     It’s true that ‘Heat’ is led by a phenomenal cast of lead actors, but where the real magic is created is not just in giving those main actors time to breathe, but in selecting one of the best supporting cast line ups in cinematic history. Deniro’s crew consists of him, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo,  Jon Voight, Dennis Haysbert, Kevin Gage and they get their bank job from Tom Noonan who played the Toothfairy in Manhunter. Pacino has Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from Silence of The Lambs), Myketi Williamson and Wes Studi (Last of the Mohicans) and a host of other agents. Great eh? Well, hold onto something, because it gets better. Deniro has Amy Brenneman as a love interest and his best friend Val Kilmer has a wife played by Ashley Judd. Pacino is married to the fantastic Diane Venora and his step daughter is none other than Natalie Portman. Awesome enough?! Nope?! Okay! Well Hank Azaria plays a character entwined in Ashley Judd’s storyline and William Fitcher is the man that has been robbed by Deniro in the beginning scene and then sends Henry Rollins after his crew! Yeah.

     There is such a wealth of talent throughout the film, just on screen, that no one drops the ball, at any point. Each scene is tight, tense and perfectly played. Backed up by Mann and his brilliant technical support they make the film not just great on the surface, but they give it a depth that makes it the classic that it is.

     Remember the coffee shop scene and love it. Remember the gun fight through the streets. Remember the airport. The heist. All the other brilliant set pieces, but pay attention to the whole show, because it is a glorious one.