Heat

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

The title, Heat (1995), written and directed by Michael Mann, takes on different meanings in this film. It refers to the police. It also can represent the pressure the characters feel in the pursuit of their jobs. It may also suggest the adrenalin-driven high one gets performing a dangerous act.

The first shot is of a train station at night with steam rising from the earth, a rather hellish look. Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) passes a reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pieta, which suggests sacrifice, but here there is little redemption felt here for the characters, and the feeling here is not spiritual. Neil is in disguise as a paramedic who steals an ambulance. His appearance is a deception as he is not here to ease anyone’s pain. We see patients who reflect the meaning of the statue by being in various stages of suffering, reflecting the agony of the world at large.

Police Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is with his wife, Justine (Diane Verona) and his stepdaughter, Lauren (Natalie Portman), who worries about making a good appearance for her father who is picking her up. How Vince’s job conflicts with home life becomes evident later.

Neil and his gang literally knock over an armored car with a truck. One of the crew, Waingro (Kevin Gage), is a loose cannon and shoots one of the guards which sets off a gunfight and the killing of all the guards. The scene shows how plans can go sideways when you are dealing with outlaws, the very definition of the word meaning they function outside society’s rules. Once restraint is lost, a domino effect of chaos can occur.

Neil meets Nate (Jon Voight) who hired Neil for the robbery of bearer bonds that belonged to a crooked businessman, Roger Van Zant (William Fichtner). Nate confirms that the big shot was insured for the theft of the bonds, will get full reimbursement, and then can buy back his own merchandise for at a large discount. The scene shows that men died as collateral damage so that crooks could help a supposed legitimate businessman scam the system.

Vincent shows up at the crime scene and realizes that except for the killings he is dealing with a professional group who knew they had limited time to pull off the robbery and only went for the bearer bonds, which they knew about. They also chose a location that was easy to exit. The exploding of the bomb used to enter the armored car was executed efficiently. All he has to go on is to check fences, that someone heard a robber call someone “Slick,” and maybe trace where the explosives were bought. Vincent also realizes that these robbers will not hesitate to eliminate witnesses once violence is in play. We have the start of professionals on both sides of the law working to defeat their opponents.

Neil shows his impatience and brutality because one of his men escalated the crime. He batters Waingro against the wall and table of a diner where he meets with his men and says Waingro won’t get a share of the heist. Neil is ready to kill the man outside, but Michael Cherrito (Tom Sizemore) stops him because police are nearby, not because it’s wrong to kill the man, which shows the lack of accepted morality. While they are distracted, Waingro escapes. We have another loose end in the process of committing a crime.

Chris (Val Kilmer), one of the crooks, brings home less cash than expected from the robbery and his wife, Charlene (Ashley Judd), gets into an argument with him because he needed cash to pay off gambling debts. She calls him, “a child growing older.” Chris explodes, breaking things. There is arrested development here which shows more cracks in the chain holding these robbers together, and there is the emphasis on the inability to balance home life with activity outside of the family.

That problem is also evident in Vincent’s home. Lauren’s father never showed up. Vincent is very critical of the missing dad, but he himself was scheduled to have dinner with his wife four hours prior. Vincent is sarcastic when he says he’s sorry that he didn’t share that he dealt with dead guys on the street. His words suggest his family’s details aren’t as important as his job.

Family continues to be the topic as Neil meets a woman, Eady (Amy Brennemen) in a restaurant. He is suspicious of her at first, trusting nobody, which shows how his line of illegal work causes him to be cautious. After she says she works at the bookstore he frequents they strike up a conversation. He learns that she has “a tight family,” while he admits that his mother died many years ago and he doesn’t know where his father and brother are. The dialogue shows how he is a loner which contributes to his feeling less vulnerable in his work. He has comes to terms with his isolated situation, telling her he is “alone,” but he is not “lonely.” She admits to being lonely and the two kiss and then have sex. But Neil cannot have a relationship in his mind and leaves early the next day.

Vincent’s intimidating ferocity is on show in the scene with Albert Torena (Ricky Harris), an informant, at the man’s chop shop for stolen vehicles. Vincent is loud, sarcastic, and threatening, and Albert promises to have his brother provide information for Vincent.

Chris crashes at Neil’s house which has no furniture. Neil isn’t even emotionally invested in his home. When Chris asks when he’s going to get furniture and a wife, Neil’s answer to both questions is, “When I get around to it,” which basically means never. He stresses the importance of not getting involved in the life they have chosen when he tells Chris, “Have no attachments. Allow nothing to be in your life that you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner.” For Neil, the heat is the police, but in this movie it can mean anything that threatens to anchor you to anything else, leaving you as an easy target.

An example of how the social system discourages going straight is in the character of Breedan (Dennis Haysbert). He is on parole and shows up for a job at a diner to be a grill man. Instead, the manager makes him clean toilets and mop floors. He also says he will state that Breedan stole or did other violations unless he plays ball, which includes giving the boss twenty-five percent of his pay. The implication is that it’s easy to see why convicts revert to criminal activity when they are not given a fair chance at rehabilitation.

Neil finds out that Charlene is cheating on Chris with Alan Marciano (Hank Azaria). Since Chris says that Charlene is his world, which is the opposite of what Neil preaches, Neil concludes he must keep his partner happy. He tells Charlene that she must give Chris one more chance. If Chris screws up again, Neil promises to help Charlene get situated on her own.

Vincent meets Albert’s brother, Richard (Tone Loc), who just wants to work the system, like others, to get Vincent to arrest his competitors who steal cars. He mentions that an ex-convict he knows calls people “Slick.” Vincent discovers that Richard was talking about Michael Cherrito, so Vincent now knows Cherrito was involved in the armored car robbery. He learns what the guy looks like, including tattoos. He gets Cherrito’s criminal record and orders full surveillance.

Van Zant was supposed to pay Neil to buy back the stolen bearer bonds. However, the crooked businessman Van Zant wants to kill who stole from him even though he is making out on the deal. His attitude shows how revenge many times blinds a person to the consequences of getting even. He sends two men to fake the payment and kill Neil. However, since nobody trusts anybody in the underbelly world of crime, Neil has his men there and they kill Van Zant’s men. Neil calls Van Zandt and says there is a dead man on the other end of the phone line. There are attempts at doing business here but since there are no social rules in effect, it becomes open season on others quite easily.

We get two views of the opposing teams at dinner with their respective families. Neil is alone, of course, and he must feel the need for temporary companionship because he calls Eady. He wants to connect with her and asks her to go with him to New Zealand to start a life together. But the destination is far away, divorced from the rest of her current world. To be with him she must meld with his separateness.

 As Neil, Cherrito, and Chris and their families exit the restaurant, Vincent and his men observe them from the roof, since they tailed Cherrito. They recognize Chris, but not Neil, because he secured his anonymity.

We have symmetry now as the police and their families go out to dinner. But the comradery is broken when Vincent gets a call about the homicide of a young call girl. We know that Waingro is the killer, and we learn that there have been other hookers that suffered the same deaths by crushed skulls. The film shows us different layers of ferocity on both sides of the law, but there are some criminals that are more depraved and dangerous than others who harm those outside of the battle between cops and robbers.

The scene between Vincent and his wife Justine at this point is very good at showing the divide between the job of a homicide detective and his home life. Vincent doesn’t want to share the grotesque details of what he sees with his spouse because he doesn’t want to contaminate his family with the evil he confronts every day. However, by keeping Justine in the dark (and this scene is shot in shadows to stress that fact) means, as Justine says, “You don’t live with me, you live among the remains of dead people. You sift through the detritus, you read the terrain, you search for signs of passing, for the scent of your prey, and then you hunt them down. That's the only thing you're committed to. The rest is the mess you leave as you pass through.” Vincent lives for the heat of the hunt, and he admits that he doesn’t want to vent because he needs the “angst” to fuel his predatory drive. She eventually has an affair because it’s a way of getting free from Neil emotionally.

Vincent and his team observe Neil and his gang at a supposed robbery of a precious metals repository. However, one of Vincet’s men bangs his rifle against a truck. Neil, on guard duty, hears it. In the infrared camera it looks like Neil can see Vincent, almost in an extrasensory way, and he pulls out of the heist so that Vincent feels forced to let them go since all he has them on is a misdemeanor.

Neil feels that the robbery is compromised, but he sees it as his last job because he wants out with Eady. Chris has a precarious financial situation with his gambling. But Neil tells Cherrito that it’s better for him not to participate. Cherrito says, “for me, the action is the juice.” It’s that adrenalin heat that these guys desire, and in that sense they are the same as Vincent.

Because he has Chris under surveillance, Vincent also has the man’s wife observed. Which means he knows she has been seeing Marciano. Vincent is able to pressure him based on prior illegal activities to give up information on Chris. Here the film shows how the police put the heat on others by threatening them to get what they want.

Vincent’s team observes Neil, Chris, and Cherrito at a refinery next to a scrap yard. It appears that they are scoping out the area. Vincent later goes to the same location and realizes there is nothing there to steal. He now understands that they have been outwitted and they have been “made.” Neil is high up taking pictures of them, so he knows who he is dealing with. Vincent gets a kick out of it because, in a perverse way, he enjoys a worthy adversary. He is getting off on that “juice” Cherrito mentioned. Neil gets information about Vincent from Nate who also gives him schematics and other information for their bank heist. Despite learning that Vincent was in the Marines, is smart, and was on his third marriage which shows his dedication to bringing hoods down, Neil says the job is worth it. Is it the “juice,” the money, or both?

Vincent follows Neil in his car, pulls him over, and strangely invites him for a cup of coffee. Their conversation is like two noir combatants sizing each other up, finding things in common, showing some mutual respect, and throwing down their gauntlets. Neither of them leads a “regular” life consisting of “barbecues and ballgames.” Neil admits he has a woman in his life but will leave her in that thirty second time slot if he has to because that is the “discipline” he has pledged himself to. Each admits they don’t know how to live any other way and don’t want to. Neil says he will not go back to prison he will put Vincent down if he gets in his way. Vincent says he will do the same if Neil turns the wife of an innocent man into a widow.

Neil is smart enough to shake the tails on him and his crew. But there are loose cannons in the world of the unlawful to foul up the best laid plans. In this case, it is Waingro. He’s the monkey in the wrench, as John McClain would say. Waingro is the serial killing psycho who wants revenge for the roughing up Neil gave him. So, he goes to Van Zant for help.

Neil has his wheel man, Trejo (played by the appropriately named Danny Trejo) lead the police in another direction. Here we have a contrived plot device as Neil just happens to be in the diner where he recognizes the unhappy Breedan and offers him the getaway job because, sadly, it is better than being abused in a legitimate job. He tosses his crappy boss to the ground, and the audience sympathizes with this harsh action because people understand the unfairness of Breedan not getting a fair chance at being legit.

The police get a tip from an informant about where Neil’s team is robbing the targeted bank. What follows is a prolonged modern version of a shootout at the not O.K Coral as Vincent and the police exchange automatic gunfire with Neil’s gang on the streets of LA. The scene shows the upheaval of the safe, civilized life that can be wiped away in a moment. Breedan is killed and Chris is wounded while several policemen are shot. Cheritto, in a cowardly and horrifying act, uses a child as a shield. But Vincent gets an opening and shoots him in the head.

Neil gets Chris to a doctor who he pays to cover up the treatment for a fractured clavicle. Neil wants to follow his discipline, which means getting out, but Chris loves Charlene and doesn’t want to leave without his wife. His attitude shows how the world of crime doesn’t allow for love and marriage. He does go along with Nate with the plan to escape at first, but then leaves to find his wife.

Neil knows that the tip came from Trejo. He looks for the man, but he finds him near death. His naked wife is also dead, and we can assume the rapist/killer Waingro was at the bottom of all that happened, forcing Trejo to reveal Neil’s plans to the cops. Trejo says that Van Zant was involved. Trejo asks for a mercy killing and Neil obliges him. And the hits keep on coming.

Vincent tracks down the snitch who took the information from Trejo and tipped them off because he wants to follow the trail that leads him back to Neil. Meanwhile, Neil wants revenge and finds out from Nate where Van Zant lives and shoots him. He is on the trail to get Waingro. Both Vincent and Neil are hunters despite being on different sides of the law.

The police acquire Marlene and her son. Sergeant Drucker (Mykelti Williamson) uses manipulation to convince Marlene to give up her husband or else she will be considered an accessory, and her young son will go into the system. She gives in to the request. The scene shows again how the police leverage people, here giving Marlene a bad or worse choice. Marlene is able to get around her situation by giving her husband a signal to stay away as he approaches. Of course, even though Chris escapes, husband and wife can’t be together, and that’s the tradeoff.

Meanwhile, Vincent has used a beating to get information out of the tipster, Hugh Benny (Henry Rollins), to find out about the hotel where Waingro is hiding. Here there is more coercion, as the ends justify the means for Vincent here. Vincent leaks the location so that Neil will learn where Waingro is and Vincent can intercept him there.

Eady was living in a naïve romantic dream world about Neil, not really wanting to know how they can go off to New Zealand easily. Now she knows he is on the run and she tries to escape. She is both somebody Neil cares about and is also a loose end. So, he wants her to leave with him. He allows her the choice, however. Now he has come to realize he can’t be alone anymore, and he only wants the rest of his life to be with her. His sincerity wins her over. Nate has provided Neil with a plane and documents to leave the country. Neil looks like he’s ready to take off, but abruptly turns off the road and heads to get Waingro.

Vincent thinks Neil has escaped and heads out, throwing his TV out of the car, busting it up in the process. The shattering of the TV, which he said his wife’s lover was not allowed to watch, represents the breakup of his marriage. He then gets another jolt when he finds his stepdaughter, Lauren, in the bathtub after an attempted suicide attempt by self-inflicted wounds. He wraps towels as torniquets and saves her. Lauren is collateral damage resulting from her father’s neglect and the actions of both her mother and Vincent in their relationship. As Neil has come to a realization about himself, Vincent seems reconciled to who he is. When he asks Justine if there is any hope for the two of them, he is doubtful, He says to her, “all I am is what I’m going after.” Justine realizes that’s true and gives him permission to go to the hotel where Waingro is.

Neil sets off a fire alarm, steals a jacket so he can pretend to be with hotel security, goes to Waingro’s room, and shoots him dead. The police have the room under surveillance, so Vincent knows Neil is there and gives chase. He spots Neil as he approaches the car next to Eady, who is there, waiting for Neil. The crook does what he said earlier, which is to leave behind any possibility of a connection to another when he is at risk. But, he already should have left and then he would have escaped. He pursued his own view of vengeful justice. Now, he pays for it. Vincent follows him and just as Neil is about to shoot Vincent, the policeman sees Neil’s shadow (representing Neil’s dark side?), turns, and shoots his prey.

In the end the two men live up to who they are. Neil repeats what he said earlier about not going back to jail, remaining an outlaw until the end. Vincent remains the hunter. Neil holds out his hand just before he dies and Vincent grabs it, a last handshake representing understanding between the two.