Rating: 
Summary: Definitely one of the better movies from Mamet
Review: Okay, if you don't know David Mamet, you will - after seeing this movie! If you are already acquainted with his style, you will have to agree that Heist belongs in the better half of his movies.What I hate about his style (and I'm not alone) is that truly, no one in the world speaks the way his characters do. The conversation is furiously paced, but dry. Usually, it's because he's a playwright, and on the stage, there's not a whole to do besides just speak. So the language is important, the style is important. Watch The Big Kahuna and American Buffalo to see what I mean. But Mamet might have realized, fortunately, is that in movies, ACTION is available, and ACTION is wanted. Talk is only a part of the equation. So, naturally, when he directs, he's very rough and can be quite boring. But State And Main was better, and Heist, I think, is actually a good action/crime movie, after all. To enjoy Heist, you have to suspend your disbelief of the way the people talk. And you will be redeemed by the intelligence with which the plot unfolds. Some of it is even funny. P.S. If you cannot stand Mamet's directing but like his style, better watch Hoffa, Glen Gary Glenross, or Wag the Dog.
Rating: 
Summary: The Art Of Great Filmaking
Review: Gene Hackman shines as always in a fantastic crime caper aptly
called "Heist" Hackman plays Joe, A professinal theif/con artist
who he and is crew are experts in their field. During a daring
Jewlery store robbery Joe gets burnt on camera while trying to silence an eyewitness to the robbery and realizes it's time to move on from the life of crime and move down south with his boat
and young wife. But his boss Mickey(Danny Devito) refuses to give Joe the cash from the last heist & wants joe & his crew to do one last difficult heist of Swiss Gold from an airplane heavely guared by armed sercurity. The film consists of cross/
doublecross/triplecross and trademark mamet verbal brilliance
makes Heist a winner in all scores. Hackman at age 70 can still
pull it off and this is some of his best work since he, devito
and Delroy Lindo Shared the spotlight in 1995's Get Shorty.
But what really makes this film work is the chemisty Hackman &
Lindo are so good & belivable in ther roles it makes
the viewer beileve the two men have been in the crime game for many years I can't say enough good things about this movie I love it and seeing it on DVD is even better. If you like a good
old fashion crime thriller where nothing & no one is who or what they seem then Heist is the film to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: All Mamet-ed out
Review: I saw 'Heist' again the other night - this time it was playing on a television screen at a gym. I didn't like the film first time I saw it. Thank goodness it was part of a double-feature with 'Spy Game.' At least that redeemed my evening. Heist didn't improve the second time around either. Especially since this time, it played with subtitles. As ridiculous as David Mamet's rat-a-tat-tat dialogue sounds coming out of the mouths of Gene Hackman and Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, it looked even *more* ridiculous captured in subtitles. 'My (insert obligatory Mamet crudity here) is so cool that when he sleeps, sheep count him.' 'Everybody likes money. That's why they call it money.' Who talks like that? Watch that stuff pop up on the bottom of the screen, and after five minutes and it becomes rather humorous. Like two guys having a go at a Mamet competition. Let's see who can out-Mamet the other. The story itself is typical Mamet. There's a con, a bigger con, a twist, a reversal, a reversal of the reversal, and then - (surprise!) - a reversal of the reversal of the reversal. Guys get killed left and right, left on docks, nobody clears the bodies, nobody investigates, nobody gets caught. I'll stick to films where Mamet contributes as a writer (e.g., 'Wag the Dog') and stays out of the Director's chair.
Rating:
Summary: WOW HOLD ON
Review: If you like great action and strait up fun then this movie is not for you. While this movie is one of the best I have ever seen, you must be ready to pay atention. I think the action is there too but the plot is amazing. It is one of those movies you need to watch twice to see all the intricut plot twists. The cast is very cohesive and overall does an amazing job of setting up one of the most amazing crimes I have ever seen. The real plot however lies in the end where everyone is trying to get away with the gold.
Rating:
Summary: Hackman's "Heist"
Review: "Everybody needs money! That's why they call it money!"
-- Danny Devito, "Heist" So explains Danny DeVito to Gene Hackman in a phone conversation in David Mamet's latest film, "Heist". The movie (available on Warner Brothers DVD) reminded me of just how much I enjoy going to the movies and watching the lights dim just as the picture begins to roll. It begins with the vintage 50's logo and music of Warner Brothers (in black-and-white, no less) and we meet Joe (Gene Hackman), an aging crook who just wants to get out of the game before it's too late. He and his wife Fran (Rebecca Pidgeon) and his friends Bobby (Delroy Lindo) and "Pinky" (Ricky Jay) are pulling off what is to be a final stunning jewel-heist in the middle of the city and are bringing the loot to their fence (Danny DeVito). It's only here that the first double-cross takes place and we learn that Joe's crew will only be paid half of what they were promised. Their fence has a final score to end all scores: he wants them to rob a cache of gold from a Swiss airliner. The plans are all ready but Joe is sick of the life and just wants what he and his crew were owed. Eventually and reluctantly, Joe agrees to take the job and works out the details with his crew. Everything is set, the gang is all here, and it looks way too easy... However, we are talking about a film written and directed by the modern-day master of suspense David Mamet and having said that, things are not easy. This is a FINE film, a homage to past film-noir pieces with Hackman making a wonderful anti-hero in the best sense possible. His character is aging and doesn't want to do the job he is assigned. He tries to run from his fate but keeps getting pulled back into the fray. Pidgeon, who plays his wife, Fran, is good. At times she reminded me of the ice cold witch, Sherry, the character that Marie Windsor played in Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing". She has a game-face on the entire movie that could destroy a row of men armed with bazookas. She's the perfect "dame" that would make any crime-novelist proud. Lindo is great as always as Joe's long-time companion, Bobby. He's smooth, tough, and knows how to get things done. Lindo needs to be in more movies because I have always liked him. Always a charismatic actor, he has the charm and grace to light up any film he's in. Not to be outdone by Lindo is Ricky Jay as "Pinky", the set-up man for Joe's crew. He's a distraction when he needs to be, a signal-man when assigned and he's even the man who takes the fall when Joe and his crew needs a quick getaway. DeVito is great as always as Mickey, the fence. Here, DeVito plays him as a smart-ass who always seems to have the answers and is never to be beaten. He's the perfect match for Hackman's professional coolness and shows us he has the stuff when Joe and Mickey finally go toe-to-toe. Last, but not least, is Sam Rockwell, the budding actor who played Chuck Barris in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and has had fun roles in "Galaxy Quest" (as "Guy") and "Charlie's Angels" (as "Eric Knox"). Rockwell always exudes cool as Jimmy, DeVito's nephew, who is assigned to Joe's crew as part of the final job-agreement between Joe and Mickey. Rockwell fits in quite well with this cast. You love to hate him. Mamet's script is both wise-acre and witty as well as intelligent and precise, full of twists and turns that are perfectly lucid once you take in the whole film. Mamet's expertise has always been the art of the con and here, he shows us that he is quite good at it. Things are not always as they seem in his world. If you think that the gold has been stolen, it may still be in the plane. If you think that someone is on your side, they may turn on you. You're never sure. That's the thing. A perfect con depends on your ability to misdirect your target and always have a back-up plan if the misdirection goes awry. In "Glengarry Glenross", it was salesmen conning each other to get first prize in a sales contest and keep their jobs. In "The Spanish Prisoner", it was rich men conning each other over a system. In "House of Games", the con was everywhere. In "Heist", the con is on again and this time, it's on the audience. The more you think about it, the more brilliant this movie is. Even when the movie's climax resorts to your standard gun-battle, it's an intelligent one. Bullets fly, bodies drop and nobody takes ten shots in the arm and continues to move around. Dead is dead. "Heist" is a grand picture. --Matt
Rating: 
Summary: The only movie I ever walked out of (sort of)
Review: Okay. Quick scenario. We were bored one day, so we trekked to the movie theatre, deciding just to pick a movie from the list of currently playing flicks, and watch it without calling ahead or knowing anything about the lineup. Usually this has worked to our benefit, but this time it was the absolute worst decision we made that night. The beginning of the movie dragged on endlessly, with mind-numbing dialouge and no action whatsoever. Now, I wouldn't mind this if this film was a think peice, but it is clearly (or, supposed to be) an action flick. Long story short, about halfway through the movie and after millions of crossings, double crossings, triple crossings while the first crossings are crossing again, we were ready to gouge out our eyes and got up many times in an effort to leave... unfortunately we had nothing else to do that night and those seats were awfully darn comfortable, so we spent the rest of the painful 50 minutes looking at each other and laughing. What were they trying to hoarde/transport again? Wait, I thought he was with that side? No, he switched. And switched again. And then switched back, and then faked a switch back again while he was really working for an evil space alien group who wished to start an underwater basketweaving Olympic team... ad nauseam. I didn't like this movie at all. But, as Dennis Miller says, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong."
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Performances, Crackling Dialogue
Review: What happened? How has this flick attracted every humourless dullard in the Amazonsphere and compelled them to write reviews? Can it be possible that so many people, at once, don't get it? This is a hugely entertaining movie. Read on. A good afternoon is a Gene Hackman movie. Another good afternoon is anything with Danny DeVito. Combine them with a rollercoaster script and a slick, knowing, supporting cast, and you are standing in the cathedral of film bliss. The tension between these two guys is layered artfully, and builds to a climactic confrontation that features some of the best dialogue in the movie. Every character pulls his or her own weight...even Patti LuPone, who spins a bit part into a memorable role. I would love to quote you some dialogue, but it wouldn't be fair...it would ruin that first viewing for you. Go rent the damn thing if you don't want to buy it now, but at least watch it. Too many of these reviewers are too hip to be happy. See it and make up your own mind.
Rating:
Summary: I WISH THERE WAS A ZERO STAR
Review: Ill start out by saying im a hackman fan, but wow he must have owed someone a favor for this movie. I think a chimp could have wrote a better screenplay. I've never heard so many cheesy cliches in my life. "She's as cute as a chinese baby" what the hell is that!!!! This movie is bad from beginning to finish....
TOP 10 worst movie ever made!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Overrated junk
Review: I couldn't get into the movie really, I kept getting distracted by the boom. After a while it became ridiculous. I saw the movie in the theater so maybe this problem was fixed on the DVD. In one scene, you can see it for at least 15-20 seconds. I thought it should have been credited as a character.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing movie about thieves
Review: Heist is a movie about old-time stealers. It's about guys who perform high-level thefts. At the beginning of the movie, we witness a heist that involves jewelry. It's all very complicated and the thieves must be very ingenious. The leader of the thieves is Joe, who gets a great job with a short man played by Danny DeVito. What happens next is a great storyline with many spins and changes. You never know what's going to happen next, and the ending is quite dramatic. This movie also has very clever dialogue.
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