Watched it nearly 30 years ago, just watched again I watched this movie when it first came out and I guess it didn't leave a lasting impression on me because I have never really felt the need to go back and watch it again. You know those classics that you just have to revisit every few years? For me it's The Godfather, The Deer Hunter, The Revenant etc. You have to go back and watch your favourites because they are just so darned good!
So why no revisit for Heat? It has some big hitters, Pacino, De Niro, Kilmer and others that set their stalls out with this movie. On paper the story is text book must-see stuff. But, for some unknown reason, it just didn't ring my bell back in the mid nineties.
And then, it keeps coming up. Friends remind me about it. Apps, based on the relentless pursuit of data modelling and their unnerving way of knowing what 'I need' keep telling me that it's my kind of movie. Tom Hiddleston does a very entertaining impression of Pacino and De Niro in a key moment of the movie on the Graham Norton show (if you haven't seen it, check YouTube, it's great!).
I am left with no choice. Happily, I don't have to pay to rent or buy the movie as it is on Netflix. And....? Well it's awful, the pyro effects are worse than movies twice the age, some of the acting by support characters is just gosh darn cheesy, and some of the character relationships are just totally implausible. But, yes I am going with a Jeremy Clarkson moment, it is also utterly brilliant. After 5 or 10 minutes of seat shuffling, wondering if I should just watch something else, wondering if my natural born ability as a movie critic is in fact spot on, I then fell under the spell of this movie. Once you are engaged, and prepared to forgive some of its shortcomings, the movie becomes spellbinding.
If for no other reason, (there are many other reasons), watch for the famous coffee shop meeting between the Al and Bob. It's cheesy, it's over acted and it is absolutely ridiculously brilliant!!
That's all folks;)