Heist | Review

As much it was a relief to see write and direct away from his usual style of movies (his versatility is brilliantly displayed with his screenplay for Wag the Dog) with last years underrated and the hardly-noticed Winslow Boy, it was just as much a pleasure to see him get back to his old ways with his newest effort. Heist is an homage of sorts-to the film noir genre-the femme fatale, the premium, and the aftereffect and aftermath of betrayal. There is nothing new here in terms of the narrative-the old professional thief performing his one last job, Frank Oz’s The Score comes to mind-as an unsatisfying attempt at this kind of plot set-up. The film is like a bunch of poker players with poker faces playing one another until the last hand is put down onto the table. Who’s got the ace? -Or in this case who’s got the gold? In this film the ” whose playing whom” concoction also works itself between the film narrative and viewer. Mamet does not keep the viewer in the dark- he likes to make us feel like were a smart cat-but only for a moment, until he pulls out a couple of surprises just to make things interesting. This film’s big hit is along this lines, just when you got things figured out- the twist in events makes for a high level of plot unveiling satisfaction. I thoroughly enjoy the Mamet signature writing style loaded with punch lines, wit and humor. Although his language comes off as a bit too distinct from the rest of the vocabulary, it is pleasurable to hear something that is high in originality. Another quality in Heist and in his other work-are the characters…there is always this mysterious quality about them, you can never know whom to trust. The introduction was great in setting up the mood of the picture, but I am left perplexed by the reasoning of holding up a jewelry store next to an attention-getter like a major inner-city explosion/car pile-up. The cast of Hackman(The Conversation), Devito (Hoffa)and Lindo(Malcolm X) proved to be a good ensemble and I always get treated to great performances by Mamet’s wife Rebecca Pidgeon (The Spanish Prisoner) and the offbeat Ricky Jay (Boogie Nights). The focal point of the film-the heist, is not spoiled by the characters planning out the operation ahead of time (something that films tend to do too often), instead of ruining everything before the start, we are left to watch the unfolding of events as they happen.

Heist is classic David Mamet, using familiar undertones, a sardonic sense of humor and Mamet-esque progression of plot twists as in his past films such as House of Games, Homicide & one of my personal favorites from 1998 The Spanish Prisoner. This film is probably not as sharp as the latter, it seemed less edgy and some-what predicable-but very much enjoyable- P.S you don’t have to be a Mamet fan to appreciate this film.

Rating 3 stars