Heat

About a year and a half ago (probably, I can’t be arsed to check), I announced that I would be working towards making Seven Pounds my first Full Education. I then proceeded to post very few reviews in the time that followed and also made absolutely no visible effort to get to that Full Education. That ends now. Here I am, ready to properly look at getting to that Full Education. Reviews will be coming. I may group them together again. I may not. Who knows? Will Seven Pounds be my first Full Education still? Probably not. Truth be told, I don’t know for definite what will be and this is basically just my way of saying that I’m doing the blog again, but it might be…

The Partially Educated Review

I frigging love this film. In fact, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. I’m sure there’s someone out there who doesn’t like it, but they’re probably the sort of person who enjoys the sound of a dog being strangled.

Heat is possibly…

…the most overlooked film in the history of awards season. Released in the prime month of December and greeted by a hell of a lot of critical praise, Heat would also go on to commercial success, before being completely ignored by every single major provider of golden accolade.

You can’t even make the argument that the other nominated films were better when the film sweeping up that year was Braveheart. And that’s even true when coming from me: someone who quite likes Braveheart.

Heat is a cops and robbers film. Truth be told, that is it when it comes to plot and it’s all that you need. This isn’t a film that’s pumping out a surprising narrative with shocks and twists; it’s all about it’s moments. Robbery scenes and a shoot-out that sets the pulses somewhere between raised and exploding heart. Or director Michael Mann’s amazing of shooting the ugly side of LA and the uglier people that inhabit it. The real moments though lie in the meetings between two of cinema’s all-time greats. It’s to be expected that the cop and the robber don’t spend much time on screen together and that’s true here. In this case though, the cop is Pacino and the robber is De Niro, making those moments they do spend together a sort of film fan nirvana. No need to dwell and riddle them with too much hyperbole. Just watch them.

Even apart though, you can’t escape the one who’s off screen. While nowadays the presence of these two legends is a far cry from any stamps of guaranteed quality, back in 1995 they had the sort of magnetism and power of presence that could light up a mine shaft. A really, really deep one. Whether they’re on or off screen, both actors dominate the entire 3 hours. I mean, OK, maybe Pacino’s overcooking it a bit, but who cares when it leads to this?

Find me any cop based film made that was made in the post-Heat world. I guarantee you that every single one of those films owes a stylistic debt to Heat. It’s that influential. Perhaps you are someone who thinks that it’s not as good as that. Genuinely (GENUINELY!) I would love to know why because as far as I’m concerned, there’s a whole genre that’s spent two decades living in the shadow of this beast.

TEN out of 10