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Joe
Moore (Gene Hackman)
Bobby
Blane (Delroy Lindo)
Mickey
Bergman (Danny DeVito)
Jimmy
Silk (Sam Rockwell)
Fran
(Rebecca Pidgeon)
Pinky
Pincus (Ricky Jay)
Written
and Directed by David Mamet
Running
Time: 113 minutes
Distributed by Warner Bros.
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Heist
is a crime caper film that relies more on character relationships
along with driven dialogue than violence and special effects.
Being the third crime-heist film to come out last year (the
other two being The Score and Oceans 11); Heist is different
in its own way through writer/director David Mamet’s
style. This film could have easily been just another mild,
same old story crime flick.
The story
revolves around the aging thief Joe Moore (Hackman) and his
accompanying crime crew. His right hand man is Bobby (Lindo),
his organizer is Pinky (Jay), and his assertive lady as well
as his young wife is Fran (Pidgeon). The film opens with the
crew stealing some diamonds, but unfortunately Joe’s
face is caught on the security tape. As he meets with his
eccentric so-called crime boss, Mickey (DeVito), Joe is talked
into taking one-more high profile score and then he will be
able to retire. Mickey rightfully insists that the crew be
accompanied by his temperamental nephew, Jimmy (Rockwell)
for the job. As the crew plans for the big job, the elements
of loyalty, trust, deceit, and many twists come into play
as the characters attempt to get away paid and clean.
Overall,
I liked Heist as a crime-twisted movie. It doesn’t have
the coolness or flare of Soderbergh’s Oceans 11 or the
hidden originality of The Score, but it is worth seeing. I
believe all three crime-heist films of last year have some
things in common, but they are all different in their own
way.
The strength
of the film is by far the characterization and dialogue of
David Mamet’s writing. Though there is some violence
towards the end of the film, for the most part the story is
driven by words, not killings or bullets. Mamet always has
a cynical and witty style with dialogue in his films. The
lines are at times so dry, but they are really saying more
than one thing about the current situation, relationship,
character, etc. There are some very classy lines in the film
as well. One example is when Pinky is describing to Jimmy
of how cool Joe is under pressure, he states, “(Joe)
is so cool, that when he goes to sleep, sheep count him.”
The plot points and acts of the scripts are set up nicely
and pane out a pattern for all the twists in the last half
hour of the film. Thought there are some loopholes and some
of twists seemed to jump back and forth. Mamet sticks with
his characters and relationships above the flaws.
His direction
contributes his writing, like always. The references earlier
to the depth and different dialogue that Mamet chooses, leads
me to believe that Mamet should be directing most of the scripts
that he writes. My reasoning is because one might take his
lines a different way and turn the story into a disaster.
Though I have in the past questioned some aspects of Mamet’s
writing and directing, I have like most of his work from the
stage (wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning play Glengarry Glen
Ross) and in film (Oscar nominated writer of Wag the Dog).
With Heist, Mamet takes on the crime genre and vamps it from
an everyday heist film into a clever character driven film
where the characters are more significant than what they are
stealing.
Gene
Hackman is a strong force, as always, in the role of the veteran
thief Joe Moore. Hackman, who was busy last year, appearing
in Heartbreakers, Behind Enemy Lines, The Mexican and The
Royal Tenenbaums, is the central force of the good cast in
Heist. Danny Devito is humorously dark as the greedy man that
sets up Joe’s hard tasked jobs. Devito himself steals
some of the best scenes in the film. Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell,
and Ricky Jay are also well-cast in the parts of Joe’s
crew. Then there is Rebecca Pidgeon, who plays Joe’s
younger wife, Fran. I have always knocked on Pidgeon’s
acting, because I could never find her believable. However,
she does okay with her role in Heist. Pidgeon is Mamet’s
real-life wife and appears in all of his films. The acting
ensemble is crucial in pulling off the twists of this film
with their natural deliveries.
Heist
does have a few loopholes, overdundance, and mildness in it.
However, for the most part it is entertaining and I believe
most audiences will like it. It has the typical same old story
everyone has seen before, but Mamet’s use of the power
of words over action is what I enjoyed most about the film.
Report
Card Grade: B-
Beastman’s
Movie Reviews
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