Viewed in
2010
Premise
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, director Michael Mann, and ridiculously deep cast star in a Los Angeles crime epic as sprawling as the city itself.
Loved
De Niro and Pacino coffee scene. The shootout scene.
Liked
The cast.
Disliked
The three hour long length. The score.
Thoughts
A very well executed and well acted crime drama.
Granted I probably know some of the smaller actors than most, my jaw flat out dropped to the ground when the beginning credits rolled, listing all the well-known actors. Granted, some of them are a bigger deal in 2010 than 15 years ago, such as Natalie Portman, the uncredited Jeremy Piven and Danny Trejo. As a 24 fan, it was exciting to see three future alumni playing minor parts. There was even some unintentional comedy in the casting of Tone Loc as an informant. Just go to the imdb page to see the absurd roster.
Now, the main reason to watch was the De Niro and Pacino duo still in their prime (though Pacino was close to becoming a caricature of himself). This was arguably the last meaningful film either of these great actors have made. I loved the cat-and-mouse maneuverings between Pacino's detective and De Niro's master thief. Seeing them face-to-face in the famous coffee shop scene was worth the price of admission. I imagine it must have been quite a moment to see that in the theaters back in '95: everyone frozen in their seats, eyes glued to the screen, afraid to breath too loud, just by the sheer magnitude of their presence as they played off of each other.
As if that was not cool enough, director Mann shows his goods with the memorable shootout in the streets. Thankfully this was shot before the hand-held camera craze. Look how natural, exciting, and comprehensible the film makers made this chaotic, two-front assault, gunfire gauntlet. Another reason for its greatness was that it was grounded in realism (which is distinctly different from "realistic").
Another thing I really liked was the writing. The story had no cardboard cutouts, I could differentiate between the 20 players, and many character had their own arcs to follow. Some of the dialogue was excellent, almost poetic. I loved the heartbreaking moment when Pacino's character's lover realizes that their relationship is just not going to work: "You sift through the detritus...". That's my word of the day!
I think living in the Los Angeles area most of my life gave me more reason to enjoy this film. There were a lot of recognizable locations (two near my former workplaces), and numerous shots of the vastness of the city. At times this film felt like a more modern version of L.A. Confidential, which was also a crime drama in which the city was more than just the backdrop.
Watching it now, I found it amusing that the mood of the film seemed to be modern, yet dated. Some of the characters were still sporting 1980's hairstyles of clothes. The cell phones used were laughable. Maybe it was intentional that some of the characters were "living in the '80's". Only Michael Mann knows, but it felt like he wanted to make a post-80's movie, but could not help but follow '80's film sensibilities.
Another interesting note was that the characters were mostly white, with a few blacks. Had this film been made post-2000, I would presume the racial diversity would be more in tune with Crash, which was more reflective of southern Californian culture. I'm not saying it was intentionally racist, but just another sign that it was made with 1980's vibe to it.
My biggest problem with this film was the length. I loved every little character and moment, but the whole thing was just too long. For example, Dennis Haysbert rocks, and I enjoyed his very small subplot, but he had no impact on the main storyline between Pacino and De Niro's characters. His character was only needed in one scene instead of five. Cut out some of the fat, and this would have been a fricking masterpiece.
The score bugged me a bit too. I love the Kronos Quartet, but I think a traditional score would be better. This film already had a lot of stuff going on, and the score did not need to be a character. There was this really annoying scene at the beginning when De Niro's character becomes suspicious of a nosy Amy Brenneman, so the music starts pumping like a heartbeat. Too obvious, man.
I highly recommend this film for De Niro and Pacino, their cat-and-mouse chases, and the mind-blowing shootout scene.
What I would change
Shortened it to under two and a half hours. Used a more traditional score.
