Heist

Rating:
Summary: Movie [was bad]
Review: This is a good movie if you like slow movies. The action does not really get intense and enjoyable until almost the end. The beginning is boring and not entertaining.

My best advice - Rent it before you buy it and if you like it buy it.

Rating:
Summary: "Heist" supplies some good tension and stellar acting.
Review: "A superb cast, a continuously surprising plot, and breathless action sequences mark "The Score" as a terrific heist thriller in the tradition of the caper genre. Director Frank Oz has created a movie that deals out its suspense in spades, supplying the intelligent story with an intensity that one-ups itself right up to the finale." -- Hauntnut's Review of "The Score"

2001 may be remembered as the year of the caper, beginning with "The Score" and ending with David Mamet's newest thriller, "Heist," a film whose structure, development, and surprise twists are essentially the same as those of that Frank Oz's earlier, more interesting film. That's not to say that Mamet's film doesn't score its own points along its complex journey, but it does have some drawbacks.

It gets off to a rocky start, casting us into a heist situation as four people calmly set off a chain of events in order to pull off the robbery of a jewelry store. The story takes a central focus on Joe Moore (Gene Hackman), who wants out of the heist business so he can sail to the tropics with his wife, and fellow partner in crime, Fran (Rebecca Pidgeon). When his boss, Bergman (Danny DeVito), fails to deliver Joe and his men their share of the money, he becomes agitated, but finally agrees when Bergman proposes one last heist operation.

The job centers around an air shipment of gold bars, which they will retrieve for Bergman who, in return, will pay them for their services. There is a catch, however: Bergman wants his nephew, Jimmy (Sam Rockwell), on the job, an inclusion that puts Joe's men, Bobby (Delroy Lindo) and Pinky (Ricky Jay), on edge. They try their best to outwit Jimmy, fearing that his presence will foil their own small plan of making off with the prize, but the heist goes off without a hitch. It's what comes after that leaves our characters in dangerous situations.

For the most part, the story isn't quite original, but like its sister film, it makes the old seem fresh and full of energy. Mamet is able to keep the tension at a reasonably high level before, during, and in the aftermath of the actual lifting of the loot. The plot is meticulous in its planning: each event falls into place at a given time, and nothing goes without a purpose. One could go so far as to say that Mamet perhaps supplies the story with too many of these resurfacing plot points, making for a somewhat confusing beginning and mid-section.

The real kicker is watching the cast chew the material in some of their finest performances. DeVito is a smash hit as the crooked boss; Lindo has conviction as Joe's right-hand man, Bobby; Jay provides some sharp wit as Pinky, and Pidgeon is terrific as the unusually potent femme-fatale. It is Hackman, however, who steals the show in one of the standout roles of his career.

The film's surprise twists aren't so much surprises as they are expected ones; it wouldn't seem fair for the film to end on a note of defeat for Joe, so the predictability of such plot twists is forgivable. Overall, "Heist" supplies some good tension and stellar acting, and while it lacks the fluid movement that made "The Score" such a terrific thriller, it still has the know-how to carry its intelligent story to success.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to write home about
Review: This movie had its moments and these moments were all in the trailer. I actually added one star to my review just because of these moments, without them, this movie would [be terrible].

True, Gene Hackman and Danny Devito were good, but I still don't think they gave the performances of their lifetimes. I actually felt that Gene Hackman did not quite keep his character consistent. Ricky Jay, who is a regular cast in David Mamet's, films did a much better job in House of Games. The rest of the case were flat out awful - really poor acting with no character.

In addition this movie makes no sense at all. What is supposed to make this movie interesting is the fact that there is double-cross after double-cross and one backup plan perpetually takes over a previous backup plan. Gene Hackman is supposed to be portraying the character of "the genius of backup plans" which is why he ends up the winner and takes the gold.

I felt that all these backup plans simply made no sense and they were there just to try and make the movie interesting. Well, that just made the movie confusing - not interesting. At the same time it didn't make any 100% sense, but it would take to long to explain every detail of why not.

Just as an example. The movie starts with a jewelry store holdup. They execute a beautifully orchestrated robbery with a great distraction etc. They manage to sneak four coffees onto the store at lunchtime. The coffees were drugged and because of this all the employees were lying unconscious on the ground at the time the gang hit the store. One thing didn't go quite as planned. One lady didn't drink her coffee and she was still up. You actually see her get up (although it's not clear) and you see a full cup of coffee still in the tray. But what was she doing down to begin with? Did she faint out of fear when she saw her coworkers dropping down? Did se just take a nap?

At this time the gang was at the door ready to get in. They were all wearing masks to conceal their faces from the security cameras. Gene Hackman did not put his mask on yet and he was trying to decide what to do. So he decides to walk in without a mask and say "Thanks God you're here. Call 911 there's been an explosion." Then he walks up to her and stuns her with a stun gun. Then he looks straight into the camera and tries to figure out what to do next.

I am not the genius with a million backup plans (as Gene Hackman's character is supposed to be) but [I would have done something different].

There were almost a million other inconsistencies in the movie that just didn't make any sense, just like the above example didn't. But it would take a long time to describe, so I'll spare you of the details.

If you wish to see for yourself it will not be a tragedy to spend 2 or 3 bucks on a rental, but I would not spend more than that to see this mediocre movie.

Rating:
Summary: Big disappointment
Review: Hackman, Lindo, DeVito, Mamet, what more could you ask for? Well, maybe a film that wasn't deadly boring, entirely unbelievable, and enough to convince me that Mamet's "great language" really is forced, stilted, phony, and painful to listen to, at least here. I loved Glegarry, and some other of Mamet's stuff, but this is embarassing. I don't mind one or two unbelievable moments in a film like this, I mean it is the movies after all, but you can suspend your belief less while watching pro-wrestling than this sorry mess, so much is entirely beyond belief. No clothes on this emperor.

Rating:
Summary: Dizzy from the twists and turns
Review: David Mamet has shown the movie-going public what it is that he does best and that is to write and direct good films. His specialty is that of plot twists, which this movie is chock full of.

This film involves the plot to steal millions of dollars worth of gold from a transport plane and the intricate plot twists of just who gets the gold. The cast is full of great actors including Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, and Danny DeVito. Sam Rockwell also proves that he is going to be big in the movie industry with this following his breakout role in The Green Mile and then later in Charlie's Angels.

The quallity of acting is very good, though not worthy of any awards, but my main deductions were for the DVD, not the movie. Like early DVD's the only special feature of this disc is the theatrical trailer.

In this day of deep, interesting DVDs, this one seems rather bland and more worthy of a rental than a purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, though not the best of David Mamet's films
Review: Gifted writer/director David Mamet is back with his latest crime caper. His movies center around out-of-fashion elements like great dialog, characters with depth, and plots with more twists than a pretzel.

Gene Hackman plays Joe, a rich, retired criminal, who is lured back into the life for one more heist by Bergman [Danny DeVito]. There's a gold shipment that's theirs for the taking. Complications include Joe's wife [Rebecca Pigeon], Bergman's trigger happy nephew [Sam Rockwell], doublecrosses, and a bit of magic.

"Heist" is a minor work by Mamet's standards, but any crime thriller by him towers above almost all the others around today.
Better films by the director include 'House of Games" and "The Spanish Priosner".

Rating:
Summary: David Mamet Shines Again.
Review: David Memet is one of the best writers of today. His movies are aften thought provocking (The Spanish Prisoner) and sometimes their just plan good (The Untouchables).

His new movie, Heist, takes every great asspect from all his movies and rolls them into a great and sharp looking ball of yarn.

Heist is set up like so:

Gene Hackman plays cool-fire Joe, Delroy Lindo portrays his longtime sidekick and Danny DeVito plays the manipulative fence who saddles Joe with one last, difficult job in this ensemble-driven caper centered on an elaborate, split-second snatching of gold ingots by Joe and his crew.

And that's all I'm going to say about the story because the less you know the more apprictive you'll be watching the plot unfold.

Now for the bad part, the only thing that [stinks] about this movie is the bare bones DVD it comes on.

Rating:
Summary: Gene Hackman is so awesome!
Review: This is just another typical "Heist" film. but Hackman really shines in it. He brought my review up with his acting! He is just such a great actor.
Plus, it's a Mamet project, and I am weary of his films. I've been disappointed in the past. "spanish prisoner" was just so awful! i remember hating that movie. Mamet has hit and misses, and heist is more of a hit. certainly one of the better films of 2001.
There were some great lines in the film and the acting was decent. The ending was a surprise.

Rating:
Summary: That's whay they call it Mametspeak.
Review: I find it odd that the reviews for this movie are so split. This is a very suspenseful genre piece and doesn't pretend to be anything else. I suspect the negative comments result from unmet expectations; if you are expecting ADHD epics like "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels," or "Snatch," this isn't your movie.

Also, I think that Mamet's dialogue is an acquired taste. It is snappy and clever, but in a way that often requires extra thought. For example, the controversial, "Everyone needs money; that's why they call it money," line. I think it's brilliant and really works, but it is hard to immediately say why. All told, I don't think all the clever lines worked - at times it seemed like the author was trying too hard - but most of them did and it really brought the movie alive to hear them from such a great cast.

Like much of Mamet's work, the plot was pretty tangled up near the end, but he sorted everything out nicely without resorting to the dues-ex-machina which, I think, detracted from the climax of "Spanish Prisoner."

One other comment. This movie isn't as dry as "Spanish Prisoner," or "House of Games." I think that with "Heist," as well as "State and Main," Mamet has become more comfortable with his role as filmmaker, as opposed to a moonlighting playwright.

Rating:
Summary: 2 1/2 stars really
Review: this movie is full of twists. that can be a good thing, but in this film, its just one twist, back and forth.

the good guys dupe the bad guys.. then the bad guys have the upper hand.. then, wow.. the good guys are back on top.. but wait.. what's that? the bad guys pull ahead in a surprising move.. but the good guys still have an ace up their sleeve..

this back and forth leaves the "surprise" ending little more than something you're simply waiting on the movie to reveal.

anyway.. this film does have some good things going for it. the first scene is a very tight and solid scene. the action sequences are very realistic.. and the directing is just right, and resists the urge to go to over the top. (if only Mamet had that sensibility when writing the script).. the acting is great.. especially from Hackman, Lindo, and Pidgeon.

i suggest you rent this movie.. its definately worth a look.. just don't expect anything too terribly challenging.