January 16, 2003
Heist
Heist is the latest caper movie from the very capable director /
writer David Mamet, who previously brought us another very
clever crime movie, House of Games, among many other movies. It
stars Gene Hackman, Danny
DeVito, and his wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, who stars in many of his
movies. It is a movie of cons pulling a daring heist and the twists,
turns, back stabbing and lies that happen before, during and after, in
a typically Mamet fashion.
The movie opens with a very intricate heist of a jewelry store, where Joe Moore, played by Hackman, is photographed by the security cameras. So he knows his time is limited and he plans on getting out of the game and heading to foreign lands after this job. But his backer, Bergman, played by DeVito, has other ideas and wants him to go through with a job that was planned before this last heist went awry. By withholding payment for the prior job, Bergman "convinces" Moore to pull off this last job.
This job is an even more intricate heist, involving airport security, airplanes, gold bars, disguises and other twists and turns. An added distraction is that Bergman also forces Moore and his team, which include his wife Fran (Pidgeon) and Bobby Blane, played by Delroy Lindo, to use his nephew, Jimmy Silk (Sam Rockwell), in order for him to learn from the master. There's more twists and turns than a roller coaster, as people aren't who they seem to be, backstab left and right, and otherwise don't tell the truth. No honor among thieves, as it were!
In many ways, this is a typical Mamet film. It has some snappy dialog, some interesting plot twists, and it is all played by some experienced actors. I used to be a big Mamet fan, really enjoying House of Games and the TV special The Water Engine Man, but I haven't been too wild about the last two I've seen, State and Main and this one. Heist is a perfectly servicable little, well, heist movie, but I think it had too many twists and turns that were just put in there to be twisty. And I could never figure out whether the Danny DeVito character and his nephew were in there for laughs or not. In the end, it seems like they weren't but they were written and played with very broad strokes.
It's a worthwhile rental, as Hackman does a great job with his part, and the two jobs are fun to watch play out. The picture of the DVD was pretty good, without any noticable problems. On the other hand, it is entirely devoid of extras. So watch it for the robberies and Hackman's excellent performance and you won't be disappointed.
Buy Heist at DVDPlanet.com
Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon
A jewel thief's nephew is sent along on a heist to ensure a longtime partner in crime stays honest about the division of the loot.
Posted by jdarnold at January 16, 2003 10:43 PM
