This is not the best film written and directed by David Mamet. It's not the best film to star Gene Hackman. It's not the best film to star Delroy Lindo either. The same goes for Danny DeVito, Ricky Jay, Sam Rockwell, and any of the other main cast members. But it's a damn fine film to sit down and watch if you want something from all of those people, and a couple of fine supporting turns from Rebecca Pidgeon and Patti LuPone to sweeten the pot.
The plot is simple, and very familiar. Hackman plays Joe Moore, the consumate professional who has just been stiffed by Mickey Bergman (DeVito). There's another big job that could make everybody rich and happy, but Joe doesn't want to do it. He's not given much of a choice though. He also has to take young and inexperienced Jimmy Silk (Rockwell) along with him. The rest of the film shows the heist being planned, the plan being executed, and then every twist and turn on the way to finding out exactly who will be successful in retaining the valuable haul.
The first time I watched Heist, probably when it first hit the home rental market back at the turn of this century, I was entertained and impressed by the typically cool dialogue from Mamet. Nowadays . . . I realise that this is a very mixed bag. The line "my motherfucker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him" is a fun line, but it makes absolutely no sense. And I have thought about that line every day since I rewatched Heist. There are so many other lines that work though, especially when Hackman is delivering them in his own inimitable style.
This is Mamet-lite. It's Diet Mamet. Maybe even Mamet Zero. But that's still a tasty beverage I would choose ahead of many other options. Mamet is, in a way, Shane Black for those who don't want the action movie tropes mixed in, and he knows his way around cons and grifts, cinematically, as well as anyone else I can think of. Trust no one in a Mamet film, including the lead character that viewers are encouraged to journey with.
Despite the material not being as strong as it could be, the same cannot be said for the main performances. Hackman is as good as he so often was in so many roles, Lindo is the kind of capable and loyal man anyone would want by their side in this situation, and DeVito enjoys being a dangerous piece of work, insisting that he means no real harm even as he has his armed goons dealing with people who won't immediately tell him what he wants to know. Jay and Rockwell are polar opposites, helping to add a calm and cool presence with one character and an erratic and unprofessional presence with the other. Pidgeon is given quite the thankless role, although she does well enough with it, and LuPone is a treat in the few onscreen moments that she has.
Heist may be a lesser film, it may be an easy one to skip over as you're inundated with viewing choices, but it also still contains a number of treats for film fans, not least of which is a central turn from Hackman that allows him to have some fun while also reminding everyone of why he was considered such a major acting talent.
7/10
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