Heist

Rating:
Summary: I was robbed!
Review: I expected a Mamet film with Gene Hackman to be at least entertaining, but NO! Lots of strained dialogue, bad casting in several roles, and an overly complex plot that lost my interest halfway through resulted in a waste of money. Maybe on pay-per-view but not worth a DVD.

Rating:
Summary: It's Another Mamet
Review: You either like David Mamet movies, or you don't.

Glengarry Glen Ross
House of Games
The Spanish Prisoner
Homicide
State and Main

If you liked these, you'll love Heist. If you didn't, you won't.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, pick yourself up copies of Heist and The Spanish Prisoner and get a Mamet jones going.

Rating:
Summary: just okay
Review: Hackman's acting is just not good. I know Hackman fans will hate me for this, but I don't like it at all. The plot is alright and the other actors are good, but I don't recommend it as a movie to run out and see. The method of the robbery itself was good, and original, but that's all there was besides the sexy Rebecca Pidgeon, I thought.

Rating:
Summary: The Best In A Long Time
Review: This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you turn away from the movie you will miss alot of the plot. It's the best movie that I have seen in years from Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito.

Rating:
Summary: While not Mamet's best, this one still shines
Review: Even when he's not in peak form, a Mamet film stands out for several reasons - the almost poetic rhythm of the plots and the superb language, where dialogue stands out when spoken by the right actors and actresses.
And choosing Gene Hackman for the lead in the Heist was an act of casting genius. He is THE right actor to play the lead in this movie. As an ageing con man who just wants to pull off that one last job and then retire gracefully, Hackman has a combination of finesse and awkwardness that makes his character believable. He's smooth but the smoothness isn't quite as refined as it should be and his age shows around the edges. Rebecca Pidgeon, a regular in Mamet films, is his loyal (or is she?) wife and nearly his equal as a con artist. Pidgeon is equally skilled at interpreting Mamet's dialogue and wringing several shades of meaning out of single lines. What she leaves unspoken is often as important as what she says.
Like many Mamet films, this one is full of plot complications and double crosses, hidden twists that aren't always easy to follow. But this didn't stop me from enjoying the flow and the subtle interaction between Hackman, his accomplices and his enemies as they tried to pull off a final job (the details of which aren't clear till the final minutes of the film). Perhaps I'm biased but even the worst Mamet film is a joy to watch, compared with most of what is out there these days.

Rating:
Summary: BAD, BAD, BAD............
Review: Bad Script, Bad Casting, Stilted acting. Need I say more?

Rating:
Summary: Noir by way of off-broadway
Review: Congragulations to david mamet for combining the elements of classic noir, stage drama and crowd pleasing adventure in Heist.
Heist has a multi-layered story with a fantastic performance by Gene Hackman as the center-piece. Equally impressive are sam Rockwell,in a typical Rockwell type role, and Ricky Jay, one of the most under rated actors on the modern screen.
What starts out as a one last big job before retirement turns into a twisting and turning funhouse of murder and mayhem.
This is what I expected to see when I rented The Score last year.
Mamet has a great ear for stinging dialogue and that is evident throughout this film. While not as intense as House of Games or as thought provoking as Homicide, Heist is still solid intelligent entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: Mamet has done MUCH better than this one
Review: This is probably the least satisfying of Mamet's films. The premise, though formulaic, is fine. But the dialogue is largely devoid of Mamet's trademark zing. Co-star Danny DeVito can't quite pull of the role of a threatening mobster-type. Gene Hackman acquits himself admirably all things considered, but he doesn't have much to work with. The characters just aren't that terribly interesting, especially to those of us familiar with Mamet's other creations. The film's pacing seems slow, and the heist sequences have little excitement to them. Generally I am a big Mamet fan. I have read many of his books, seen a couple of his plays Off-Broadway, and have watched all of his films. So as far as I'm concerned Mamet has an admirable enough track record that we should forgive him for this less-than-stellar product. Actor Sam Rockwell, a very gifted and entertaining actor, never gets a chance to flex his comedic and dramatic muscles in this film. As a matter of fact, all of the roles seem rather flat and underwritten. Only Ricky Jay's character, nicknamed "Pinky", has an interesting character arc. So if you want to watch some of the best of Mamet's material I suggest you rent/buy "House Of Games", "Glengarry Glen Ross" (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), "Oleanna", or "The Spanish Prisoner." He also wrote the screenplays for "The Untouchables", "The Verdict", and he co-wrote "Ronin" under a pseudonym. Any of those are superior to "Heist".

Rating:
Summary: This is a weak effort.
Review: Enough said. Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Why Stars Are Stars and You and I Aren't
Review: David Mamet's script for this complex little puzzlebox of a film is excellent, with both snappy dialog and sometimes-predictable, sometimes-not plot twists and double, triple and quadruple cross piled on cross.

Almost anyone who could read the lines halfway convincingly and hit the marks and do the physical part would look good in this script, and you would have an enjoyable and fast-moving caper film.

But Gene Hackman's performance in the lead role raises it rather above that level. With Hackman embodying the man so cool that "when he goes to bed, sheep count him" as he deftly out-maneuvers and out-smarts all comers trying to take him down, this is a film that approaches the power of the glory days of film noir; of the days when Bogart and Raft and Robinson nd Cagney sneered at the camera and the world alike, made their own way with thundering guns and usually died the way that they lived -- "Top o' the world, Ma!" ((The Forties-style black-and-white Warner bros logo at the beginning hints at this.))

While hardly the only experienced pro in this film, Hackman is the one who simply walks in, takes the film, and puts it in hsi pocket and walks away with it.

Even if the rest of the cast and the plot were total borax, this is a film that would be worth watching just for Hackman and his performance.

But Danny DeVito, Sam Rockwell (last seen predicting his own eminent death as a comic-relief character in "Galaxy Quest"), Rebecca Pidgeon and Delroy Lindo, while simply not up to Hackman's bravura level (though DeVito comes close as the Bad Guy) fully support and complement Hackman, giving this little jewel a sparkle and hardness that few films reach.

The complexity and precision of the actual caper, with split-second timing necessary, and almost everyone operating at least partially under his own agenda, reminded me of the better episodes of TV's "Mission Impossible", a high compliment in this context.

And the crosses and re-crosses and re-re-crosses that ensue are simply glorious to watch working out on screen, trying to guess what comes next.

Some weeks ago, i reviewed the Deniro film "The Score", with a headline along the lines of "Not So Much a Caper As a Stately Waltz". By those standards, this is a fast and torrid tango, with passion and betrayal hot and cold on every hand.

Great caper film. Better, possibly, than "Thief" (though i haven't seen "Thief" in a few years) -- but, even it it isn't, still one of the better caper films in many years.