When "Heist" first came out, I was hoping that it would have all those Mamet touches that had surprised me so much in "House of Games", "Homicide", and even "The Spanish Prisoner".
It did, but maybe it also 'cracks out of turn". This time I could anticipate the twists.
Mamet regulars Rebecca Pigeon and Ricky Jay are joined by Gene Hackman as Joe Moore, the head of a crew of jewel thieves. He takes on a big heist for his difficult partner Mickey Bergman (Danny DeVito), but he has been identified on a previous job and is saddled with Bergman's impulsive son. "Heist" continues David Mamet's fascination with long and short cons, tells, marks and grifts. But like Joe Moore, Mamet has been made from a previous job and now we are ready for him - we've ramped up our security.
The film has a better first half and looks good. It also has a pacey score by Theodore Shapiro that helps drive it forward. The big plus is Gene Hackman, his presence here makes up for shortcomings in other areas, especially the end. It also has Rebecca Pidgeon, her style takes some getting used to, but that watchfulness and reserve gives her an enigmatic quality - she steals scenes.
Half the people in Mamet's films are cool - the others are marks. That controlling self-assurance verging on smugness worked well in "House of Games" but it gets a bit stretched here - it was definitely overstretched in "Spartan".
The film is loaded with distinctive Mamet speech patterns and rhythms - there are plenty of lines with a twist throughout the film - "My motherf#*ker's so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him".
"Heist" does have tension, but in the end it paints itself into a corner and opts for a "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" resolution. "Heist" came out around the same time as "The Score" with Robert DeNiro. They were both heist films with attitude. "The Score" works better. Director Frank Oz had a light touch and "The Score" has wit and even empathy for its characters. To be honest, these are elements missing from "Heist" - it's cynical and it's clever, and there is irony, but humour can be the crucial difference in a movie such as this.
If you are expecting a "House of Games" or a "Homicide", "Heist" just doesn't get there, however it has its moments before it simply runs out of puff.
It did, but maybe it also 'cracks out of turn". This time I could anticipate the twists.
Mamet regulars Rebecca Pigeon and Ricky Jay are joined by Gene Hackman as Joe Moore, the head of a crew of jewel thieves. He takes on a big heist for his difficult partner Mickey Bergman (Danny DeVito), but he has been identified on a previous job and is saddled with Bergman's impulsive son. "Heist" continues David Mamet's fascination with long and short cons, tells, marks and grifts. But like Joe Moore, Mamet has been made from a previous job and now we are ready for him - we've ramped up our security.
The film has a better first half and looks good. It also has a pacey score by Theodore Shapiro that helps drive it forward. The big plus is Gene Hackman, his presence here makes up for shortcomings in other areas, especially the end. It also has Rebecca Pidgeon, her style takes some getting used to, but that watchfulness and reserve gives her an enigmatic quality - she steals scenes.
Half the people in Mamet's films are cool - the others are marks. That controlling self-assurance verging on smugness worked well in "House of Games" but it gets a bit stretched here - it was definitely overstretched in "Spartan".
The film is loaded with distinctive Mamet speech patterns and rhythms - there are plenty of lines with a twist throughout the film - "My motherf#*ker's so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him".
"Heist" does have tension, but in the end it paints itself into a corner and opts for a "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" resolution. "Heist" came out around the same time as "The Score" with Robert DeNiro. They were both heist films with attitude. "The Score" works better. Director Frank Oz had a light touch and "The Score" has wit and even empathy for its characters. To be honest, these are elements missing from "Heist" - it's cynical and it's clever, and there is irony, but humour can be the crucial difference in a movie such as this.
If you are expecting a "House of Games" or a "Homicide", "Heist" just doesn't get there, however it has its moments before it simply runs out of puff.