Leofwine_draca
One thing I can't stand are cynical critics who no longer take joy in the simple delights of cinema. Sadly, most critics were unfairly harsh with David Mamet's HEIST, another addition to the recent wave of "heist" movies currently doing the rounds at the local cinemas and video shops (others include OCEAN'S 11, DECEPTION, and THE SCORE). Despite the hackneyed storyline, the film offers much reward to viewers prepared to sit through it. For a start there's the witty, almost comedic script which focuses on wordplay and fleshes out characters to a point where realism is at an all time high. Then there's the plot, which twists and turns so many times with double, even triple crosses, that you can never quite guess what will happen next. One casualty as a result of these twists is that some of the situations seem a little unbelievable and there are one or two obvious holes in the plot, but these are easy to dismiss as inconsequential when there's so much else to enjoy. Watching a film with this much attention to detail and intelligence in the scripting and direction is a delight and a rare treat in modern cinema.The casting is also excellent with uniformly good performances. Of course, the older, veteran performers are light-years ahead of their younger counterparts. Leading the way is Gene Hackman who seems thirty years younger in the part, more evidence that this underrated actor is a force to be reckoned with. I believe Hackman is past seventy these days but still going strong; his acting here is as good as ever and his sympathetic criminal makes the film worth watching. His foil is Danny DeVito, a long way from his earlier 'comedy' roles in the likes of TWINS, here playing a ruthless gangster with all of the loathsomeness he can fathom. Finally Delroy Lindo is on hand as a loyal aide, giving another of his brooding portrayals with some occasionally startling outbursts of violence. Ricky Jay has a small but sympathetic role whilst newcomer Sam Rockwell is suitably slimy as a creep.The various set-pieces are superbly staged and I love how the actual heists are planned down to the smallest detail (take for example the opening gamble, which is cinema at its best in my opinion). The plane robbery is also highly suspenseful and Mamet keeps tension running high throughout the film. The finale is a rewarding shoot-out which is superbly choreographed and graceful, and provides some fitting – not to mention hilarious – payoffs for some of the villainous characters. Just about everything is great about this movie. Although there are no really big surprises and some of the twists are obvious (the concluding twist is just a joke, really) for the most part this is gripping stuff. Watch it and see.
Python Hyena
Heist (2001): Dir: David Mamet / Cast: Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, Danny De Vito, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell: Action film about the overtaking of difficult tasks. Gene Hackman plays a professional thief who believes that he is growing less effective with age when he is accidentally caught on camera during a crime. He wants out but his greedy boss pushes for another task. Frustrated Hackman plans a double-cross that will result in a brutally violent climax. Plot and structure are detailed with director David Mamet playing the plot twists off motives. He previously directed The Spanish Prisoner, which also dealt with themes of betrayal and crime. Here Mamet delivers a more violence yet just as clever action film. Hackman is excellent as an individual with age yet skill. Delroy Lindo appears as Hackman's right hand man who will join him in his fight for freedom. Danny De Vito is superb as the double-crossing boss in a role that is quite against type and he pulls it off with great consequence. Rebecca Pidgeon plays a seductive villainess who steals her scenes. Sam Rockwell effectively plays the villain who will betray everyone until his greed is conquered. Well crafted yet extremely violent examination of crime and its masterminds but it also demonstrates the consequences to such a lifestyle and how freedom comes with a great price tag. Score: 8 / 10
tieman64
This is a review of "Heist" and "Spartan", two unconventional thrillers by David Mamet. Both films mark the beginning of Mamet's crypto-fascist period, in which he slid from angry left-winger to right-wing caricature. Henceforth his scripts would become obsessed with the aesthetics of toned bodies, knife-fights, semi-naked wrestlers, and US special agents who excel at taking down Arabs and head-shotting bad guys ("Spartan" would later be worked by Mamet into "The Unit", a TV series which follows a US Spec-Ops group).On the flip-side, working within the confines of genre (the heist movie in "Heist", the action movie in "Spartan") allows Mamet to perfect the kind of blunt functionalism he's been working toward throughout his career. And so both films feature extremely parred down dialogue, narratives which are barely told, professional characters who worship at the altar of efficiency, and minimalist dialogue which moves with a distinctly staccato, or almost perfunctory rhythm.Both films are also explicitly cinematic con jobs. Mamet, of course, has long been a director who approaches storytelling as an elaborate card trick, his films oft about magicians, hucksters or con artists. In this regard, both "Heist" and "Spartan" constantly defy audience expectations. Watch how Mamet very subtly subverts and plays with genre tropes, uses dialogue to mask and misdirect, how he approaches scenes from odd angles, every sequence always just a "little bit off", and watch how he continues his trend of casting comedians in serious roles. This mirrors the philosophy of both films' heroes, who rely on doing the unexpected. Take one scene in "Spartan", in which our hero repeatedly asks "Why's the TV on?", the nonsensical, repeated phrase designed to misdirect and scrabble the mind of his opponents. Such tactics result in an interesting hybrid: films which feel at once generic and off-kilter.Mamet is clearly more interested in professional mastery - a trait which his heroes share - than in the production of masterpieces. Indeed, after "Homicide", Mamet would write a book in which he explains his new film-making philosophy. From this point onwards he would strip his films down drastically. The result: simple lighting, direct dialogue, unfussed camera work and minimal music.Consider this line from Mamet's book: "Acting should be a series of simple physical actions. If the actor wants to know how he should walk to a door in the scene, the director should tell him, 'Go to the door,' and, if the actor presses on: 'Go to the door. Quickly.' Don't act. Don't emote. No motivation. No back-story. No character arc. No discovery. These are indulgences that cannot possibly be manifested physically. Just go to the door. Quickly. Cut. Print. Go home." Mamet's new found philosophy – which he calls "heightened logic" - perhaps offers an understanding into why his films are so mannered, why his stories all revolve around elaborate cons and why he's drifting toward pulpy genres.If on the surface Mamet's films tend to be about con-jobs, covertly they're all about Mamet's true passion: language. Language is often – if not inherently - selfish. To talk, especially in the way that Mamet's characters talk, is to con. Stunted half sentences and droning repetitions aren't there just for the fun of it. They are successful and less successful attempts at persuasion.In this way, you might say Mamet's films are all about words and syntax (his "Oleanna" stage-play would be about a kind of "word rape"). Post "Homicide", however, his directing style evolved in such a way as to eradicate everything that detracts from his words. By removing music, cinematography, acting, sound etc, you've essentially cancelled out the director's "vision". And after you've cancelled out a director's "vision" and an actor's "interpretation", nothing remains but the writer's prose.Elsewhere, Mamet's later films tend to be preoccupied with a kind of Zen like professionalism, a trait which he himself shares as a writer (his scripts are attempts to perfect the "word", to hone and purify one's personal skills). As such, his later films often feature an antagonistic bond between mentor and protégé, Mamet's younger characters always striving for the professionalism represented by the older mentor. We see this in both "Heist" and "Spartan", both films revolving around wise old timers who have neither the time nor the inclination to school the less-seasoned buffoons around them. "Spartan", incidentally, is a loose remake of Mamet's script for "Ronin". Both films are "named" after ancient warriors, and feature highly skilled, lone wolf heroes. In "Spartan" we have Val Kilmer as a machine-like guy hell bent on finding a kidnapped girl ("Where is the girl?" he repeatedly says, his phrase uttered like dispassionate machine code), and in "Ronin" we have Robert DeNiro as an ex special forces agent determined to retrieve a mysterious case.Unfortunately, both "Heist" and "Spartan" end with unimaginative shoot outs. Such routine endings are somewhat common in Mamet's work.8.5/10 - Worth multiple viewings.
Simon Harris
Many of the reviews on this film mention the fact that it is overcomplicated and may have one twist too many. Good. I like to have to think about what's on the screen. If I want to switch off and simply stare, I'll watch a Transformers movie. For those viewers who like to keep on their toes and have to assess and maybe even re-assess what they are seeing this is a great movie. Snappy, quick fire dialogue, the kind of criminal, low life patois that Mamet does so well is peppered throughout the film, with staple Ricky Jay "cute as a Chinese baby" or "And there he goes!" getting some of the best lines. Top notch performances all round from all the cast members make this a classy, complex movie. Hackman's criminal mastermind is more than an equal to DeNiro's Neil McCauley in Heat but minus the sub-machine guns, and with a real world weariness about him, as he tries to ensure his last "thing" pays off. Delroy Lindo, Danny De Vito and Sam Rockwell don't let the side down either with strong support performances,and Rebecca Pidgeon as Hackman's much younger wife is diamond hard and dangerous as the only female in a world of double dealing Alpha males. Fans of the genre will be happy to watch it more than once as the web woven and the crossfire dialogue means there is always some new slant on events. Complex plotting, quotable dialogue, strong leads and supporting actors and David Mamet at the helm mean there are many worse ways to spend an evening.
