Heat

Pros: The acting, plot, dialogue

Cons: a few subpar performances by minor characters

Review: Nowadays I must admit I don't expect much from an action movie. Reasonably good acting, some sort of a somewhat coherent plot, maybe some one-liners that are kind of amusing and a hot leading lady. One movie that I've seen in the last few years has...

Pros: Superior acting; Long but not boring; Great music

Cons: Story not too original; Much violence and language

The Bottom Line: A well-told, memorable crime drama which unites two of Hollywood's greatest actors.

Review: I saw Heat a few months ago, and it was the movie that made me an Al Pacino fan. He and Robert De Niro both shine in this cops and robbers epic.

Though many plot elements are a retread of countless other films, Heat separates...

Pros: Great actors, excellent plot and story line, awesome twist

Cons: Very violent

Review: The first my husband and I heard of this movie was from my husbands best friend. As he described this movie we both were really freaked out. We thought he was completely nuts!!!

He proceeded to tell us "This movie is so awesome...they shoot...

Pros: Great gun battles

Cons: Soapy complications and side plots

Review: Heat (1995)

Director Michael Mann's crime thriller "Heat" is the story of two men, outlaw Robert DeNiro and good guy Al Pacino. DeNiro plays "Neil". a career criminal who specializes in "scores", big robberies. Pacino is on the other side...

Pros: Outstanding cast and performances; fairly interesting story; some intense moments.

Cons: Screenplay entirely too complicated; more confusing than mysterious; utilizes many Hollywood formulas.

The Bottom Line: I'll bet this movie improves after each viewing once you can follow the story, but a truly great movie is good on the first viewing.

Review: It's a shame "Heat" is not the fantastic crime movie you'd expect it to be. It has so much potential to be an epic and exciting film, especially considering the all-star cast, the director and the premise. But the film is a bit too epic for its own...

Pros: Cast, characters, action, direction, story

Cons: Al Pacino

The Bottom Line: A smarter than average crime flick, a must for fans of the actors or filmmaker. The three hours fly by.

Review: Obsessed, workaholic LA detective Al Pacino trails highly efficient, tight-knit robbers led by smart, detailed Robert De Niro, whose motto is; Never get involved in anything you can t walk away from in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat coming...

Pros: A perfect match up of acting personas that play out well.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: A clash of the titans in the acting world with a director that pulls of a winner.

Review: A band of professional bank robbers try to stay one step ahead of the LAPD.

Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors. The style in which he films are unique to their class. Take Miami Vice for instance. Not the most realistic of cop...

Pros: strong script, tight directing, great acting

Cons: a couple of fairly unbelievable scenes

Review: Heat? (1995) is a near great cops and robbers movie. Al Pacino plays the main cop and Robert De Niro the main robber. The movie begins with De Niro and his gang with great violence attacking and looting an armored car. Pacino, as the homicide...

Pros: Ensemble acting by an all-star cast featuring Pacino and De Niro, direction, script, cinematography, atmosphere.

Cons: Overlong and overly melodramatic, some unnecessarily weak subplots whose threads are never sewn up.

The Bottom Line: An intelligent, unforgettable film that stands on its own, but is also noteworthy for the clever minimalist way director Mann brings heavyweight actors Pacino and De Niro together.

Review: That I put off seeing director and writer Michael Mann's stylized epic 1995 cops 'n robbers film Heat for nine years is a crime for which I have no excuse. After reading this review, you'll have no excuse at all.

The film's...

Pros: Good performances. Michael Mann's usual careful directorial choices.

Cons: Overly long. Overly melodramatic.

The Bottom Line: Michael Mann's careful character study of cops and robbers in Los Angeles shows off his technical brilliance, but could have benefitted from a bit of a trim.

Review: This week was, of course, New Years and it was just a tad too eventful for my taste. I was, of course, invited to a major gala function at the Beverly Hills Hotel where I had a few cocktails and traded decorating tips with Esther Williams (fond of...