Grade: A+
Synopsis: In Los Angeles, an obsessed detective (Al Pacino) hunts a master thief (Robert De Niro).
Heat is a crime epic. What John Huston started with The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Michael Mann perfected here. It’s cops and robbers played out on a citywide stage with perhaps the greatest cast every assembled.
This is a movie that stays with you. From the intense highway shootout, to the haunting closing scene, Heat gets inside you. This is due, in large part, to the elegant symmetry of the story. Pacino and De Niro are two sides of the same coin, men who live for their work, to the detriment of everything else in their lives. This symmetry even carries over to the finale, where no one gets away unscathed, even though every character is given an opportunity to avoid their fates.
Bottom Line: A great story told by a master director with one of the best casts ever assembled. Highly recommended.
