The Heist | | Cast : | Gene Hackman, Rebecca Pidgeon | | Director : | David Mamet | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | November 09, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | Who is double crossing who? | Content
 | At this time, the heist film is as clich? as the most basic western. That's a bad thing when all your twists, no matter how clever are anticipated. And even when you can't guess the exact twist, you expect one. With the element of surprise removed, the film that's left feels half as accomplished. David Mamet's film HEIST suffers from that, especially if you've seen other crime-films of his like HOUSE OF GAMES or THE SPANISH PRISONER. To build on the expectations even more, this heist film is titled THE HEIST.
Gene Hackman is Joe, an aging thief with his eye on retirement who chooses his friends only as careful as his enemies so as not to get trapped. And with Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay and Danny DeVito in his first degree of separation we know that you can't just trust everyone. Again, that is the films greatest flaw. The viewer doesn't want to trust anyone no matter how hard the director tries to mislead. Even so, Mamet pulls out a couple nice transactions and some of the dialogue is Mametized fun.
The DVD has a sufficient widescreen transfer as well as a good audio transfer. The film is entertaining but it might be a good idea to check out HOUSE OF GAMES instead. So, who you gonna trust?
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| Rating | | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | One double cross too many... | Content
| Mamet does not write reality in my opinion. You hear some of the quotes and you tend to think: "Who talks like that?"
However, it is intriguing to hear it come from this ensemble cast. With an inferior cast (like the one in Spanish Prisoner, which I still liked the first time I saw it) it would have been wasted, but the three leads (Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo and Danny DeVito) give it a crisp take that I found to be refreshing (even if the script was contrived).
Joe Moore is an old master thief who thought he did his last job (I guess he doesn't realize the "rule" that a last job for a thief usually involves killing your boss in a double cross), but is lured into another one by Mobster Bergman. He has a crew, including long term partners Bobby Blane (Delroy Lindo), Pinky (Ricky Jay) and wife Fran (Rebbecca Pidgeon). Their job this time around is the robbing of a shipment leaving an undisclosed airport bound for Switzerland. However, there is a problem. Bergman wants his nephew Jimmy Silk (Rockwell) involved, maybe to get his feet wet, or to watch that they are not doublecrossed. He is reckless and without patience. He is not eager to learn and thinks he is wise beyond his years, but he is not as stupid as he appears to be. This wildcard is the reason that the crew begin their double crosses.
Mamet intrigued us with his take on the con-world with his excellent House of Games. He also did a very good job with The Spanish Prisoner. But this plot seems to be tired, especially since I saw "The Score" with Robert DeNiro and Ed Norton a month earlier. They have similar plotlines and while Heist is superior in terms of Dialogue, the Score had more of a payoff and better pacing. There are also things about the movie that bother me. The first is the yet again Hollywood obsession about placing a young woman with an old guy. Yes, Hackman doesn't always look his years, but he's past 70 and Pidgeon looks more like his daughter. It's creepy to see them together. The other is that Joe Moore is a skilled thief who must have spent decades as a thief. He has nothing to show for it. I don't think so...
Sam Rockwell also does a good job. He is the straight man, he is the observer and is always overshadowed by the leads but he does hold his own. The disappointing characters are Pinky (they double cross their mobster boss and he doesn't run?) and Fran. They also bothered me in the Spanish Prisoner. Their static talk drive me up the wall and the last thing Ricky Jay looks like is a thief of any sort.
As in House of Games and Spanish Prisoner, there are twists and turns everywhere, but many of them are fairly predictable. There are no "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the audience as if they are fooled. Maybe we are just too use to seeing Mamet films that the shock of a double cross wore off a long time ago. Without this surprise factor, the Heist becomes a flat film with no real interest....Rating: C
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| Rating | | | Date | April 27, 2005 | | Summary | Good, but predictable | Content
| Once you get over the fact that Heist is going to be a movie easy to figure out, you can let the healing begin and enjoy this film.
Like many movies of its genre, Heist sports the basic plot of planning the biggest theft of the century, a con, and the dilemma of getting away with it. Fortunatly, Heist manages to accomplish this without seeming to rerunnish or boring. Although some of the actors fall flat, both Danny DeVito and Gene Hackman manage to salvage the severed threads and carry them to new heights. Especially DeVito, playing the aggravating and somewhat usual role of the bad guy. Maybe its his height that makes him a rather comical enemy, he kind of has to glower up when making a daunting impression.
Although Heist has its downfalls, its enjoyable movie that leaves you feeling rather satisfied when the credits begin to roll. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 25, 2004 | | Summary | "Everybody needs money! That's why they call it money!" | Content
| What is our fascination with criminal activities, specifically in film? Maybe it's the opportunity to live vicariously through the nefarious on-screen actions of others? Or maybe it's a chance to get a peek into a world many of us will probably never see? Whatever the reason, the public (myself included) seems to eat it up with a spoon.
Heist (2001), written and directed by David Mamet, certainly involves a lot of criminal activity, if you couldn't tell that from the title. The film stars Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, and Mamet regulars from a few of his other films Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pidgeon. The story begins with a somewhat elaborate robbery of a jewelry store involving Joe Moore (Hackman) and his crew consisting of his wife, Fran (Pidgeon), Bobby Blane (Lindo), and Don 'Pinky' Pincus (Jay). The group works efficiently and quickly, indicating a high degree of proficiency and experience, but even the best-laid plans can go wrong. And something does. Joe gets caught on videotape, and now must get out of the business. Only problem is, the group's fence for the stolen merchandise, Mickey Bergman (DeVito) takes the goods, but refuses to pay due to the fact that there's another, more lucrative job involving a large shipment of Swiss gold waiting in the wings, one he's already set up the financing for, and one both he and Joe agreed to prior to the current robbery, and prior to Joe getting `made' on video. Finding himself between a rock and a hard place, Joe sees no other choice but to put off his plans to head south to settle somewhere where he could elude law enforcement, as the trip would require large amounts of money, which he doesn't have. Joe also agrees to take on Bergman's inexperienced nephew, Jimmy Silk (Rockwell), as part of the team. Will the heist be successful? With the number of complications that seem to develop, you wouldn't think so, but reality isn't always what it seems, and in the world of criminals, trust is an especially hard thing to come by, as motives and loyalties can change faster than the weather in Chicago.
I've always kind of thought Mamet to be really adept in developing the art of the con, especially within his films. He seems to have an understanding of the ins and outs of the confidence game, and presents it very well on the screen. With regards to Heist, it's very difficult to tell if what's happening is for real or a part of some elaborate plan designed to put other events into motion. The layers of the con were very thick and intricate, and my only advice would be not to think about it too hard as it's happening, but rather just let it unfold and be revealed. At times I did feel the plot bordered on being a little to convoluted, but eventually, it all came around. I did think the level of intricacy in various schemes seemed just a little to complicated, especially given the expected outcome or reaction from the individuals the plan was designed to work on...the unpredictability seemed of little consequence here, as it seemed like Joe always seemed to expect everything, working all angles at all times. He is portrayed as a man who sees the value in careful, calculated planning and always having a backup plan, but then I think back to the beginning of the film when he got his mug on video, setting up the rest of the film...oh well...one element especially unique to many of Mamet's films is his use of words in the dialog. Many people find his technique to be disjointing, and completely unrealistic, and I can understand this as I no of no one who speaks the way in normal conversation. But what you have to keep in mind while listening to the dialog in this film, the characters only really use the sort of jibberty jabberty dialog when they are speaking within their own group, or members of the criminal element in general. I have had little to no (okay, none at all) experience with thieves, con men, grifters and others of that ilk, so I couldn't say that they don't speak that way or not...a good example of this is when Delroy Lindo's character issues the following statement, "You know why the chicken crossed the road? Because the road crossed the chicken." At first listen, it doesn't seem to make much sense, but someone on the IMDb put it well stating that it's most likely a warning to another not to `cross', or betray me, or I will mess you up. The dialog actually reminds me a lot of the way characters spoke in the gangster films of the 40's. Danny DeVito's character probably had the best line, which I used as a title for this review. To hear him speak it you understand his meaning perfectly.
The acting was really excellent throughout, but then that was my expectation given the talent involved in this more cerebral and less action oriented film. I was pleasantly surprised by Rebecca Pidgeon, as with the last film I saw her in, another Mamet film, The Spanish Prisoner (1997), I thought she was the weakest element. Here she seems more comfortable, and sports a more seductive and alluring character as Hackman's wife, Fran. I don't normally go for women with short hair, but it looked really good on her. The direction was also very good, keeping the story rolling along, engaging the viewer and keeping their interest throughout, which was pretty amazing considering the how complex the story got at certain points.
Presented here is a sharp looking wide screen print, with a smattering of special features including an original theatrical trailer, filmographies of the talent involved, and captions to follow along with some of the more arcane dialog.
Cookieman108
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| Rating | | | Date | August 16, 2004 | | Summary | Decent film; not one of Mamet's best | Content
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Gene Hackman plays an old thief who is coerced by another crook (played by Danny DeVito) to take on a high-risk heist. The plot cannot be captured in a few lines; it's got a lot of twists... a lot of people double-crossing each other.
It's great to see Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito get in each other's faces. However, the movie is not that far above the average heist film. It's got some great moments of dialogue ("Don't you want to hear my last words?" "I just did."), and it's got a lot of attitude and intense performances. But sometimes the flashy dialogue also seems forced, and you as the viewer feel aimlessly led around by a rope rather than really absorbed in the film. I also managed to predict what the next twist would be nearly every time.
The movie's worth watching if you're a fan of Mamet, Hackman and/or DeVito. You could find worst films out there; it's decent, but not great. |
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