Plot: What’s it about?
To the best of my recollection, there were three mainstream movies last year about a great "Heist". The movie in question, "Heist" directed by David Mamet. Prior to that there was the Robert DeNiro/Marlon Brando/Edward Norton ensemble "The Score" and finally at the end of the year, we were treated to a very mainstream and successful updated version of "Ocean’s 11" starring…everybody. After watching all three, I have to admit that the first two left me rather wanting. It seems that there were too many plot twists to the point where I didn’t even care anymore. While the latter made it fun to watch, these first two really left me dry. In the case of "Heist" we’re in good hands here. Written and Directed by David Mamet, who is very talented at both roles, the movie sports a great cast in Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo and Danny DeVito. Even the supporting players are names that we know, such as Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon and Ricky Jay. So what went wrong?
The movie starts as the group is doing a job on a jewelry store. We’ve seen it all before, with the inside job and things and people strategically placed and it all goes off without a hitch. Or does it? Joe (Gene Hackman) accidentally messes up and gets "burned". Being caught on camera is not a good thing for a thief, so he wants to cut his losses and get out while he’s still ahead. Unfortunately this isn’t the way that Bergman (Danny DeVito) sees it. In addition to screwing the "gang" out of some of their money from the jewelry store heist, he wants them to do one last job before they all call it quits. Add to that, his nephew (Sam Rockwell) has to tag along and you’ve got a messy situation here. Mamet is famous for his plot twists and his "casual" dialogue here. You’ll find both here, in spades. In fact, you’ll find so much of that casual dialogue that it almost becomes annoying. Everyone tends to repeat the last sentence of what the other says. I picked up on it and once I did, it about drove me crazy.
Needless to say, you know they’re going to do the last job, which so happens to be the "Swiss Job" meaning only one thing…gold. Add to that that you’ve got person A double-crossing person B and them doing it to person C…it just gets way too messy. The whole movie seems to have been thrown together as a compilation of scenes, which, granted is what a movie is. Things get lost in the shuffle here and though the cast and crew are talented, this just doesn’t work here. Add to that the fact that Hackman spends every other scene yelling or hitting someone, we don’t know who is ever "in" or "out" but rather to see who double-crosses who…again. There are some good points, however, so if you’re a big fan of Mamet, then you might want to at least give it a rental. I’ve seen plenty worse in my day. Who knows, maybe I need to watch it again and maybe I missed something. But I think not.
Video: How does it look?
Heist is yet another fine product of the Warner Brothers empire. Shown in a 1.85:1 anamorphic ratio, the transfer is relatively pristine with little or no faults to show. This is a new movie to DVD, as it was released last Fall, so it’s reasonable to assume that this will score pretty high on the video scale. It does. Edge enhancement is not an issue and essentially the only error I could find was some artifacting in some of the indoor scenes. A vast majority of the scenes take place outside, during the day, so they look especially brilliant with no errors to report.
Audio: How does it sound?
Mamet is not known for his use of sound when he directs. I recall seeing "The Spanish Prisoner" a few years ago and had to crank the volume way up just to hear the dialogue. Thankfully this isn’t the case here, as the dialogue is relatively strong and lacks any distortion. The surrounds were used very sparingly. Even for a movie like this, where plenty of stuff "blows up", I just couldn’t hear it in the rear speakers and if I did, it wasn’t enough for me to turn around and think "Whoa". Sorry, it just wasn’t. A few gunshots do sound good, then again some of the other gunshots sound like firecrackers. Really hit and miss with the sound. While I wasn’t expecting much, I didn’t get much. The Dolby Digital 5.1 did not deliver as I had hoped here, but I feel it’s not a fault of the encoding, but rather how the movie was shot.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Cast bios and a theatrical trailer presented in anamorphic widescreen. That’s it.
