Heist

We rented this DVD because it was a David Mamet film with Gene Hackman. Mamet because he wrote State and Main, The Winslow Boy and The Spanish Prisoner. Hackman because he has been in a million films and has always been good. Seriously, a list Gene Hackman's credited performances is nearly 100. I don't know how many are films but he seems to be everywhere.

In this film, Hackman plays Joe Moore, a guy who is obsessed with money. It's the kind of part that Hackman seems to love, i.e. the mastermind who anticipates every turn of fate and is totally prepared. Maybe this started with Lex Luthor in Superman (1978). Like all the roles I have seen Hackman perform, you believe he is the character. Gene is in his early 70's and he is apparently still going strong.

Hackman has three teammates in crime, Bobby played by Delroy Lindo, Pincus played by Ricky Jay and his wife, Fran played by Rebecca Pidgeon. She was in all three of Mamet's films mentioned above. It's a strong, disciplined team and you know that because they communicate effectively with small secret gestures and twitches. In fact, they are so damn competent you wonder what could possibly go wrong.

Danny DeVito also has a key role in the film as Mr. Bergman, a bad guy boss. He is convincing even though he has done enough comedy, that it's hard to take him seriously. His sidekick is Jimmy silk played by Sam Rockwell. Jimmy is not as quick on dialogue as the rest of them, and that's part of the emotional setup.

This is a story about obsession and at a deeper level about the interplay between the obsession for money and the criminal code of ethics, which is a tenuous system of trust and loyalty. Crime creates tension and it's in this story from the beginning. Look for the double, double, double crosses. The story moves quickly and so does the rapid fire dialogue. I realized toward the end how few names I knew. It was part of the secrecy.

None of these people are very nice, so you can anticipate violence. They're all bad guys. In fact, you wonder where law and order is hiding out. But this is not a whodunit. We are only immersed in the bad side.

However, I did wonder in several scenes, where the rest of the world was while all this action was in progress.

Reviewed February 20, 2003