Heat pulsates with the mounting tension of two men willing to drop everything in life in order to capture what lies just out of reach, something hidden around the corner. The film is a monstrous epic, encapsulating the lives of the protectors of our society as well as the sociopaths that disrupt it, while penetrating into their hearts to reveal that the commitment that drives lawmen and thieves can be painfully similar.

The strength and depth Mann brings to his story within a classic American genre (cops and robbers) was reason enough for two of the greatest actors of all-time, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, to choose this film and this film alone in which to grace the screen together. Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, an instinctive and dedicated
detective, while De Niro is his match as Neil McCauley, a cold, calculating master thief. Both are at their best in Heat, completely dedicated to bringing a new dimension to seemingly familiar characters.

Some have described Hanna and McCauley as perfect foils on opposite sides of the law; I would agree, with one exception. McCauley’s single passion is the job and finishing it; Hanna’s appears to be the same. Where McCauley only begins to discover the meaning of love by the end of the film, Hanna has been married three times.

Despite the fact that Hanna knows he is only “what he’s going after,” he still reveals a need for companionship. Though he keeps his angst to himself in order to keep “sharp, on the edge, where he needs to be,” he still wants someone to be there for him those few moments when he stops being a hunter.

Sadly, it would take a perfect, selfless, grace-filled companion to tolerate the empty soul he becomes when he’s chasing down an enemy. Finding and cherishing such a person is the one chase—the one adventure—for which Hannah lacks commitment. He’s a tragic hero, one who saves as many as he can but in the end will be unable to save himself.

Heat contains two of America’s greatest actors at the pinnacle of their late careers, but it also boasts one of the greatest ensemble casts ever put together. Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Denis Haysbert, Jon Voight, Wes Studi, Natalie Portman, Amy Brenneman, and Diane Venora each play their parts with originality, bringing a rounded, yet broken humanity to the wake these two men leave behind them.

The final heist in the last third of the film brings to the surface the cold devastation of these professionals’ inhumane dedication. It is one of the greatest action set pieces of all-time, a horrific marvel that unfolds in the streets of Los Angeles. The battle is brutal and terrifying, playing as real as any film I’ve ever seen at capturing what it’s like to be caught in a lawless urban jungle. The echoes of the bullets, rattling off the tombstone-like glass skyscrapers, encase everyone below in an eerie, seemingly never-ending gun blast salute.

In the end, Hanna and McCauley have their final confrontation alone in an airfield, caught in between planes taking off and landing. One survives. The other dies.

The scene is ambiguous. It could be argued that the one’s death is a kind of premeditated hara-kiri. His character has loved and been loved, and yet remains unable to forfeit his need for control. He takes a dangerous risk in order to resolve a certain issue, only to lose a likely lifetime of affection with another person. In some sense, the scene plays as if he purposefully chooses death, allowing the one man who mirrored his own dedication and precision to be his grim reaper—holding his hand, and leading him into death’s final, controlling grip.

Diane Venora, the actress who plays Pacino’s wife, described the script for this film as a Greek tragedy when she first read it. She was right; Heat is a tragedy. In a fallen world, it's a somber
realization that being a completely committed hero (or villain) too often comes at the
cost of every other human desire . . .