Heat

Dir: Michael Mann

1995

****

Heat was one of the much-hyped and well-received films of the mid-1990s. Not many people realised however that Heat was a remake by Michael Mann of an unproduced television series he had worked on, the pilot of which was released as the TV movie L.A. Takedown in 1989. Few people cared though, as Heat would be the first time that movie legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino would be staring alongside each other – a huge cinematic event back in 1995. Neil McCauley (De Niro), a highly skilled career criminal, and his crew – Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore), and Trejo (Danny Trejo) – hire Waingro (Kevin Gage) to help them rob $1.6 million in bearer bonds from an armored car. During the heist, Waingro impulsively kills one guard, prompting another to reach for his concealed pistol, forcing the crew to kill him as well. McCauley gives the order to kill the third guard so as not to leave an eyewitness, but is furious with Waingro for the unnecessary escalation. The crew attempts to kill Waingro, but he escapes. McCauley's fence, Nate (Jon Voight), suggests he sell the stolen bonds back to their original owner, money launderer Roger Van Zant (William Fichtner), who could profit by claiming the insurance on the bonds. Van Zant agrees, but instructs his men to ambush McCauley at the meeting. McCauley survives the ambush and vows revenge against Van Zant. LAPD Major Crimes Unit Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is called in to investigate the robbery, along with Sergeant Drucker (Mykelti Williamson) and Detectives Casals (Wes Studi), Bosko (Ted Levine), and Schwartz (Jerry Trimble). An informant connects Cheritto to the robbery, and Hanna's team surveils him, leading them to the rest of the crew. When Hanna's team discovers that the crew's next target is a precious metals depository, they set up a stake out, but their presence is detected by McCauley and the crew abandons the job. Hanna opts to let them go so that he can continue gathering evidence against the crew rather than arresting them on a minor breaking and entering charge. Despite the increased police surveillance, McCauley's crew agrees to one last brazen bank robbery worth $12.2 million to secure their financial futures. Hanna pulls over McCauley on the 105 Freeway and invites him to coffee. Face-to-face, the aging professionals realize that they've both prioritized excellence in their fields at the expense of their personal lives. Hanna admits that his third marriage with Justine (Diane Venora) is near failure and the toll this takes on his step-daughter Lauren (Natalie Portman). McCauley confides that his solitary lifestyle has prevented him from finding a romantic partner, and that he doesn't know how to reconcile this with his feelings for his new girlfriend, Eady (Amy Brenneman). Despite their mutual respect for one another's skill, they both acknowledge that they will not hesitate to kill the other if necessary. When he returns to his office, Hanna realizes that McCauley's crew have all slipped their surveillance. Waingro threatens information out of Trejo, having made a deal with Van Zant to help eliminate McCauley's crew. Acting on a tip from Van Zant's bodyguard Hugh Benny (Henry Rollins), the LAPD intercept the crew just as they are leaving the bank, resulting in a massive shootout in Downtown Los Angeles. Bosko and other police are killed, while McCauley loses Cheritto and his alternate driver Donald Breeden (Dennis Haysbert). McCauley subsequently arrives at Trejo's house to find his wife dead. A dying Trejo reveals Waingro's betrayal, prompting McCauley to kill Van Zant. Eady realizes that he is a criminal but ultimately agrees to flee the country with him. Shiherlis attempts to reconnect with his wife Charlene (Ashley Judd), who is helping the LAPD with a sting operation. She changes her mind and helps him escape, albeit without a way to keep their son Dominic in his life. Hanna finds Lauren's body in the bathtub after a suicide attempt and rushes her to the hospital. He and Justine agree to go their separate ways after learning that she has survived. Meanwhile, McCauley is free to leave the country with Eady, but learns of Waingro's location and abandons his usual caution to seek revenge. The LAPD, acting on information from Benny, learns of McCauley's presence at Waingro's hotel. McCauley kills Waingro, but before he can return to Eady and escape, he is spotted by the arriving Hanna and forced to flee on foot, leaving her behind. Hanna pursues McCauley onto the tarmac at LAX and mortally wounds him. Hanna takes his hand as McCauley succumbs to his injuries. The film also features performances from Hank Azaria, Bud Cort, Jeremy Piven and Xander Bereley who was also in L.A. Takedown. Like L.A. Takedown before it, Heat is based on the true story of a real Neil McCauley, a calculating criminal and ex-Alcatraz inmate who was tracked down by Detective Chuck Adamson in 1964. Neil McCauley was raised in Wisconsin where his father worked as steam fitter to provide his family with a middle-class life. The normalcy of Neil's youth faded following the adoption of another child and his father's death in 1928. At 14, he quit school to find work to support his mother and five siblings. The McCauleys soon relocated to Chicago. In Chicago, McCauley began his criminal career after his mother began drinking heavily. By the time he was 20, he had already done three stints in county jail for larceny. In 1961, McCauley was transferred from Alcatraz to McNeil, as mentioned in the film, and he was released in 1962. Upon his release, he immediately began planning new heists. With ex-cons Michael Parille and William Pinkerton they used bolt cutters and drills to burglarize a manufacturing company of diamond drill bits, a scene which is closely recreated in the film. Detective Chuck Adamson, upon whom Al Pacino's character is largely based, began keeping tabs on McCauley's crew around this time, knowing that he had become active again. The two even met for coffee once, just as portrayed in the film. Their dialogue in the script was almost exactly word for word the conversation that McCauley and Adamson had.The next time the two would meet, guns would be drawn, just as the movie portrays. On March 25, 1964, McCauley and members of his regular crew followed an armored car that delivered money to a Chicago grocery store. Once the drop was made, three of the robbers entered the store. They threatened the clerks and stole money bags worth $10,000 before they sped off amid a hail of police gunfire. McCauley's crew was unaware that Adamson and eight other detectives had blocked off all potential exits, and when the getaway car turned down an alley and the bandits saw the blockade, they realized they were trapped. All four suspects exited the vehicle and began firing. Two of his crew, men named Breaden and Parille, were slain in an alley while a third man, Polesti (on whom Chris Shiherlis is very loosely based), shot his way out and escaped. McCauley was shot to death on the lawn of a nearby home. He was 50 years old and the prime suspect in several burglaries. Polesti was caught days later and sent to prison. Adamson went on to a successful career as a television and film producer, and died in 2008 at age 71. Michael Mann's 2009 film Public Enemies stated in its end credits "In memory of Chuck Adamson". As an additional inspiration for Hanna, in a 1995 interview Mann cited an unnamed man working internationally against drug cartels. Additionally, the character of Nate, played by Jon Voight, is closely based on real-life former career criminal and fence turned writer Edward Bunker, who served as a consultant to Mann on the film after starring in 1992’s Reservoir Dogs. The whole story would have made an excellent TV series but both L.A. Takedown and Heat are great films – one a great 1980s thriller and the other a now iconic crime film of the 1990s. The story is as authentic as it gets, with cast and crew visiting criminals in prison to gain knowledge and inspiration. From a directional point of view, it is technically flawless with many new methods used that were revolutionary at the time. The film was so well researched that the scene involving the shoot-out after the bank robbery is shown to United States Marine recruits at MCRD San Diego as an example of the proper way to retreat while under fire. I enjoyed Heat a lot but if I had to pick one, I’d have to pick L.A. Takedown if only for the nostalgia, the fact it was shot in two weeks and that it is quite possibly the best made-for-TV film ever made. Heat is a classic though, a real 90s film.