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.

Insomnia

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

This film (2002) is a remake of the movie done in 1997 which was a Norwegian story set inside the Artic Circle. The setting is here is Nightmute, Alaska, which fits the constant daylight experienced by the residents. The opening shot shows someone applying blood to a fabric, presumably to frame an individual. Then there are shots of the white Alaskan environment as Detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino) rides in a plane over the frozen land with his partner Detective Happy Eckhart (Martin Donovan). His first name will become ironic as the story plays out. As IMDb points out Dormer’s last name in Romance languages implies sleep, which is also ironic here because that is something he will get little of.

They are met by the enthusiastic Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank), a fan of Dormer. (Could her last name refer to the cold exterior?). They meet Chief Nyback (Paul Dooley), an old acquaintance of the visiting detectives. The Chief requested their help although he notes that there is an Internal Affairs investigation going on that may involve Dormer. We quickly realize that there may be a dark side to the protagonist here. Director Christopher Nolan uses doubles in his films to show the negative aspects of his protagonists, such as in the Batman movies, Memento, and The Prestige.

Dormer insists upon seeing the body of seventeen-year-old Kay Connell despite being told all the evidence is in the report. It points to Dormer’s insight and experience. Dormer realizes that the killer took his time to wash the victim’s hair and cut the nails, not applying any makeup. He and Burr conclude the murderer must have known the victim and wanted to erase any traces of her that might connect them. The process was patient and methodical revealing a calculating killer. Dormer observes that the perpetrator “crossed the line and didn’t even blink. You don’t come back from that.” The idea of stepping over the line of legality and morality and the resultant fall from salvation is something that the film addresses.

After examining Kay’s room, Dormer sees that she cut out the picture of her best friend, Tanya (Katharine Isabelle). It is proof that animosity developed between the girls. He also observes gifts that her boyfriend, Randy (Jonathan Jackson) could not afford to give her. Dormer concludes there must be an admirer of some means involved. When Dormer says he wants to visit the school, the local police inform him that it’s ten o’clock at night. It’s the time of year there that has only daylight. Ian Nathan, in Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work. says Nolan liked how the original movie “reversed the poles on film noir.” I assume that means that film noir movies take place mostly in the dark to mirror the dark deeds characters do. Here the light exposes those wrongful actions.

Even though Dormer doesn’t want to discuss his department investigation, Eckhart drops a bomb saying he has cut a deal which means he will testify concerning evidence used in arresting drug dealers. Dormer sees the Internal Affairs action as a means for others to get promotions, indication that selfish, not admirable, behavior is the motive. Dormer leaves upset. This fact makes what happens later question Dormer’s motives.

Dormer presses boyfriend Randy for information and realizes he doesn’t know the mystery person Kay was seeing even after Randy beat her, showing his brutal side. The police find Kay’s backpack which contains a mystery by A. J. Brody. Dormer is trying to discover connections to the victim since he believes it will lead him to her secret admirer who he believes is the killer.

Dormer sets up a trap, saying they are still looking for Kay’s backpack at a certain location. They stake out the area. The scene takes place in a fog on rugged terrain, which is symbolic of mystery and perhaps the inability for Dormer to see what is morally correct. The suspect shows up and wounds a police officer. In pursuit, Dormer fires at a shadowy figure which turns out to be Eckhart. Dormer goes along with the story that it was the suspect who killed Eckhart. Dormer tells the dead detective’s wife about the death, and it is ironic when she tells Dormer not to arrest the person who killed her husband. She doesn’t realize that she is actually telling Dormer to kill himself.

Burr is now investigating Eckhart’s death. Again, ironically, she doesn’t realize that it is Dormer she is after. He hides his gun just as he hides his criminality. The lawful here becomes the unlawful, as morality is turned upside down. Dormer cannot sleep. The brightness of the day will not allow him the luxury of escaping from his deeds into the relaxed darkness of dreams. He thinks he sees Eckhart among other policeman, as if the man is haunting him. Dormer is suffering from guilt, which is a major element in Nolan’s films: the leaving of the family in Interstellar; the drowning death at the beginning of The Prestige; the possibility that Leonard is the cause of the death of his wife in Memento; the torment the main character feels in creating a weapon of mass destruction in Oppenheimer.

Warfield, the IA investigator, calls Dormer at the restaurant where Rachel Clement (Maura Tierney) works. (Does her name imply that she is the opposite of the inclement weather in the area, and can bestow individual clemency?). Dormer is nasty to Warfield, which may rise out of his guilt that his past wrongful actions will surface.

The police found a .38 caliber bullet at the foggy area and Dormer doesn’t let it be known that he also picked up the .38 caliber weapon left by the suspect. He shoots a bullet from the .38 caliber gun into the body of a dead dog and exchanges the casing for the .9 caliber bullet that killed Eckhart. The lack of sleep causes sounds in the police office to appear loud and disturbing. However, it could also mean that his world has become distorted by his upending the moral order in his life. Burr gives him a report to sign to close out Eckhart’s death investigation. Possibly due to a guilty conscience, he doesn’t sign it. He tells Burr to be thorough in her investigation. We may have here the compulsion found in Edgar Allan Poe perpetrators to confess their crimes.

As Burr takes another look at the evidence and finds inconsistencies, Dormer gets a call from the killer, Walter Finch (Robin Williams). He says he saw Dormer shoot Eckart and pick up Finch’s gun. He knows that Dormer is experiencing insomnia, and that he hides his clock to not remind him of how much sleep he is losing. At the end of the conversation he says, “We’re partners in this.” It shows how he is the demonic replacement for Eckhart. Finch may be a manifestation of Dormer’s darker self, his evil double, another element of Poe’s writing appearing here.

By bringing the victim’s best friend, Tanya, to the dump where her body was found and intimidating her by saying he will reveal that she cheated on her best friend with Kay’s boyfriend, Dormer gets Tanya to reveal that Kay’s secret admirer was Brody, the crime novel writer, who is really Finch.  

Finch calls Dormer again, and again, shows how well he knows him by telling Dormer his state of insomnia. He says that no one would believe him if he says that the shooting was an accident because of the scrutiny on Dormer in the IA investigation. Finch says that he’s not who Dormer thinks he is. It is an ironic statement because it suggests that the surface an individual projects is not the reality beneath. That point can be applied to Dormer also. Finch says he is not a murderer, just like Dormer thinks he isn’t. But then Finch raises the question that maybe the shooting of Eckhart wasn’t an accident. Nolan likes to insert enigmatic possibilities in his stories.

Dormer finds out where Finch lives and breaks into his apartment. Dormer sees pictures of Finch so he can now recognize him. Finch left a piece of paper at the top of the door so when he returns and finds it has fallen, he knows someone is there. He runs off and Dormer chases after him across a river filled with floating lumber. Dormer falls in and almost drowns. Does this scene imply that Dormer is unable to reach steady moral ground?

Dormer returns to Finch’s apartment and receives a call from Finch telling him to feel at home by taking a shower and resting there. Maybe he can even feed Finch’s dogs. His words are another indication that Dormer and Finch could be doppelgangers. Finch is intelligent because he says Dormer should know he’s not going to return to his place. And the only way he knows that Finch is the killer is because he told him so (although we know that Tanya’s statements point to him as a person of interest). Finch sets up a meeting between him and Dormer. Dormer plants the .38 caliber gun in Finch’s apartment. Dormer is trying to frame a man for a killing he himself committed.

Burr has been following Dormer’s advice about checking out the little details surrounding a crime. She realizes that the shot that killed Eckhart came from a different location and now she discovers, as did Dormer, that Finch, a local writer, is the author of all the books in Kay’s position, one of which was autographed, which means she knew him. Later Burr finds a newspaper that features the LA investigation. She repeats what Dormer once said, “A good cop can't sleep because he's missing a piece of the puzzle. And a bad cop can't sleep because his conscience won't let him.” More irony here that Dormer’s protégé is on the trail that leads to himself.

Maybe the best scenes in the film occur between Pacino and Williams. Here they meet on the ferry. Dormer tries to diminish what Finch says about them being in the same situation, not meaning to kill their victims. But Finch is persuasive, saying if it comes out that Dormer shot Eckhart, even if he says it was an accident, it meant that all his IA problems disappeared, which would seem suspicious. It would also ruin his legacy of being an effective cop. It might cause many of those he put away to have grounds to be released, if Dormer is shown to be a cop who alters evidence. Finch says when he was young, he was impressed by the police, and that is why he writes about them. He even wanted to be once, he says, but couldn’t pass the tests. All his statements show how similar he and Dormer are. They speak with their faces close to each other, which suggests they are two sides of the same coin. Finch says that they should steer the investigation toward the boyfriend, Randy. Dormer coaches Finch since he will be brought in for questioning because of the signed copy of the book in Kay’s possession. Dormer tells him not to elaborate, and that the investigation will lead to Randy. Dormer, however, does not reveal that he planted the gun at Finch’s place. After he leaves the ferry, Finch reveals that he taped their conversation, insurance that he has the goods on Dormer.

Finch calls Dormer again and the latter asks if Finch still has Kay’s dress. He feeds that line to Finch who now says that is evidence they can plant on Randy. Dormer really wanted to discover if he could find evidence in Finch’s possession to pin the killing on him. Since Dormer says he can steer the investigation he needs more facts about Kay’s death. Finch says he wanted to comfort Kay when she came to him distraught about how Randy hit her and was fooling around with Tanya. But Kay laughed at him when he held her and kissed her. He says that he hit her to stop her from laughing and his humiliation was the force that led to his beating her. Here we see that Finch’s pathology is deeper than that of Dormer’s. His telling Dormer about what happened is like a confession, an attempt to relieve the feeling of guilt. He says he thinks he will be able to sleep now. The theme of insomnia not allowing one to escape guilt is stressed here. It is telling that when Finch gives Dormer the opportunity to unburden, Dormer hangs up. He can’t so readily expel his guilt.

Finch, during his interrogation, diverges from Dormer’s advice, telling how Kay was afraid of Randy, how he abused her. Then he reveals that Kay said Randy had a .38 revolver that he hid in a heating vent, which is where Dormer hid the gun at Finch’s place. Here Finch is communicating that he knows Dormer was trying to manipulate him and the reason Dormer didn’t want Finch to say anything about Randy was because he wanted Finch to be the prime suspect. Dormer then takes over the questioning once he realizes what Finch is doing. He says that Finch gave the young girl gifts, implying Finch was grooming her, like a pedophile. After Dormer goes into a rage, he leaves the room.

Dormer can’t find the gun in the air vent at Randy’s place. It was a ruse by Finch. The police come and find the weapon where Finch relocated it. They then arrest Randy ironically on evidence that Dormer manipulated to prevent himself from being implicated. Now, instead, an innocent person is targeted for something he didn’t do. Dormer has done the opposite of what a cop is supposed to do.

Dormer and Finch meet again, and Finch says that it’s over because he now can go on with his life, scumbag Randy is in jail, and Dormer’s reputation is intact. He gives the tape to Dormer who disposes of it and points his gun at Finch. But Finch reminds him that his outburst at the police headquarters shows he would be a prime suspect in Finch’s death. Dormer then says he will tell the cops about everything. Finch reminds Dormer he destroyed any evidence of the two ever having a previous conversation that implicated Finch.

Finch is very smart and has thought it all out, except that Burr finds more about what happened. She uncovers a .9 mm shell at the site of Eckhart’s death, which undermines the .38 caliber gun being the weapon that killed Eckhart. She notes in some case files involving Dormer that a .9 mm was used. She encounters Dormer who looks wasted due to insomnia. Burr gives him a hug and can feel the .9 mm gun, and since none of the local cops carry that firearm, she is very suspicious.

Back as his hotel room, Rachel asks Dormer why he is moving furniture around to block the window. Even though it is dark in there, he still says it’s bright. Metaphorically he can’t hide his guilt anymore. He now does confess to Rachel about the case under investigation back home. He describes how a pedophile kidnapped, tortured, raped, and finally killed a boy. Dormer says he knew the man was guilty. Tellingly, he says his job is to “assign guilt.” Now he is placing that guilt on himself. The shot at the beginning of the film that showed blood being absorbed onto fabric involved Dormer taking blood from the victim and planting it in the perpetrator’s home. He admits he knew it “would catch up” to him, and mentions the investigation. He says the “end justifies the means.” He doesn’t sound convinced, probably realizing it is a rationalization. He asks Rachel, who he has put in the position of a clergyperson, what she thinks. She says it might be that it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But can he live with his actions? And that is the vital question this film asks.

There is an interesting cut to Burr who holds the .9 mm casing and now she must decide what to do, and can she live with her decision? Dormer picks up his badge and gun and decides to go after Finch, no matter the means or the consequences. Burr promised to meet Finch at his cabin where she does not know he killed Kay. He said he had letters from Kay that told of Randy’s abuse. He has no such letters that he could create in time for this visit. Dormer can’t find any evidence at Finch’s empty apartment so he too heads to the cabin. Burr notices Kay’s dress and Finch knocks her out. What follows is Finch getting the drop on the disoriented Dormer. He disarms him and beats him. Burr shows up and Finch escapes to get more firepower. Burr realizes that Finch is Kay’s killer, and he witnessed Dormer shooting Eckhart. Dormer admits these facts and adds that he just isn’t sure if killing Eckhart was an accident. Dormer sneaks up on Finch and they fight. They eventually exchange gunfire. Both receive fatal wounds. The shot of Finch falling dead and disappearing gradually in the water symbolizes the death of Dormer’s darker self.

As Dormer is dying, Burr is ready to throw away the .9 mm casing saying nobody has to know. He stops her and says, “Don’t lose your way,” as he had, forgetting to abide by the law. He says to just let him “sleep.” He can now have the ultimate escape from his guilt in the comfort of an eternal rest.

Glengarry Glen Ross

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Here is another post that comes out of a class discussion at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, focuses on the themes of the punishing aspects of capitalism, the line between legality and criminal behavior, and male toxicity.

The film begins with the credits displayed against passing subway cars. The images tell us that it’s an elevated train, which places us in Chicago, as one of the few cities that has this type of rail system. It also implies speed, which the real estate sellers in the story must adopt. As the audience soon discovers, they have to beat the clock or they will be fired. One of the rules in writing a play is to include a sense of immediacy to hold the audience’s attention.

The first part of the story takes place at night and there is a drenching rainstorm. The setting provides an atmosphere that suggests that dark deeds are about to transpire. One student noted that these elements are included in the film noir genre. However, our instructor noted that the noir element of a femme fatale is absent since these men do not need a conspiring female to corrupt them. (Mamet reverses the femme fatale character in House of Games where the con man subverts the female character).

The film starts in a restaurant with Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) in a phone booth inquiring about the health of his hospitalized daughter who has no insurance. In the phone booth next to him is Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who is trying to sell some properties. The story quickly sets up the theme that money is needed by these men not just to enrich themselves but so that they and their families can survive, which of course places extreme pressure on them. Following their calls they go into the men’s room and gripe (especially the vocal Moss throughout the film) about the bad “leads” they have. The company they work for is making them try to sell to people they have encountered before who are unwilling to buy property or don’t have the means to do so. The large financial institution that employs them is ordering them to make transactions that are almost impossible to finalize. It’s like Sisyphus trying to roll that big rock up the hill, and these men are also condemned to a fruitless task. The one salesman who has been successful lately is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), who has an amazing gift of gab, and he is working on a sale at the restaurant to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce).

At the office, Levene and Ross, along with George Aronow (Alan Arkin) are confronted with the crude and demeaning company representative, Blake (Alec Baldwin). (Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay, added this character and Levene’s phone calls to the movie, and many, according to the IMDb, believe the film script may be better than the play). Blake is brutal, telling the men that they are losers, and if they don’t go out into the literal (and figurative) storm and triumph over their adversity, they will be fired. Levene goes for a cup of coffee and Blake yells at the man, saying, “Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” In this economic hell, even basic items are denied unless one meets the company’s demands.

There is a contest going on to determine who sells the most property. Blake says, “the first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” It’s sort of an all or nothing capitalistic game they must play. In the film Wall Street, the merciless Gordon Gecko points out two men on the street: one is well-dressed wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, and the other appears homeless. Gecko says you can’t say that the difference between the two is just based on luck. The implication is that success is earned. That may be true, but is the alternative to winning mean that anyone who doesn’t finish first must sacrifice everything and become destitute? According to Blake, the answer is yes. Blake tells them the law according to their job is, “A-B-C... Always Be Closing!” He is saying that if they are not always making money on every deal then they are failures.

Moss complains that the “leads” are “weak,” Here is where Blake uses, as one of our students noted, emasculating language. He says, “The leads are weak? The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak!” He says that if they are good guys who just want to be with their families, they aren’t real men since they are not making the grade as salesmen. Blake flaunts his income, his expensive watch and car, setting them up as the measure not only of success but of what makes someone manly. He pulls out two metal balls attached to a string and places them in front of his crotch. He says, “It takes brass balls to sell real estate.” He calls them “cocksuckers.” The insults throughout the film accuse men of being homosexual or children, which, in this macho world, means they are not “real men” if they can’t close the deals. Blake holds up the Glengarry leads like they are a present, tied up in a bow. They will only go to the salesmen who can close the mediocre leads. It’s a sort of a Catch-22 because nobody can get the leads that will bring in money if they don’t already make the sales. It’s a version of the rich getting richer. The title of the movie, which also refers to other choice properties that were sold, thus becomes a symbol for the pot of gold at the end of a sullied mercenary rainbow.

John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager (a job Mamet had in real life) who hands out the inferior leads. He is a bureaucrat who, like the others, is only out for himself since this survival of the fittest environment fosters that approach. Levene, worried about his daughter, feels driven to negotiate an unethical deal with Williamson so he can get some of the Glengarry leads, offering the office manager a cut of his earnings and payment for each lead. However, Williamson will not compromise on his price to meet Levene’s lean resources since he feels he must be highly compensated for taking a chance that might get Williamson caught. Human decency is not a factor here, as there is no sympathy shown for Levene’s daughter’s medical situation. After this rejection, Levene continues to cross over into unethical behavior as he pretends to be a busy big shot who is willing to throw some deals toward some potential customers. But, his high-pressured pitches fail to close on any properties.

There are extended scenes between Moss and Aronow which on the surface seem to be commiserating about how dire their fate is, and how badly they are being treated. The dialogue here illustrates Mamet’s signature style, with interruptions occurring between the speakers that sets up a rhythm that, as Arkin noted in an interview, is not subject to variation or improvisation. One student noted the musical score is jazzy, which fits in with Mamet’s writing style which has him riffing on a subject. IMDb states that Al Jarreau’s version of “Blue Skies” in the film refers to blue sky laws that aimed to prevent sales fraud, which is ironic given the unscrupulous actions occurring in this story.

Moss proposes that they stage a burglary at the office and steal the Glengarry leads from Williamson’s file cabinet and sell them to a competing firm. But Moss’s chumming it up with Aronow is just a ploy to get him to do the robbery since Moss, because of his vocal dissent, would be the prime suspect. Aronow does not wish to be part of yet another example of crossing over into illegal activity. But Moss, using the unscrupulous ploy of blackmail, says Aronow is already guilty since he has listened to Moss’s plan.

Roma does not try to strongarm his potential clients, as does Levene. He talks about all sorts of philosophical topics to ingratiate himself with his mark, because, as with other Mamet films, such as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, characters are trying to con others by achieving a personal connection. However, what Roma says to Lingk reveals a capitulation to a lack of a moral compass. He tells him, “You think you’re a thief? So what? … You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it.” Roma says it’s up to the individual how a person wants to live, but for his money, he doesn’t buy into rights and wrongs, He just wants to avoid the guilt that would hold him back from escaping from the hardships in life and enjoying whatever pleasures there are.

The story now enters daytime, where underhanded activities are revealed. The agency has been robbed, with the Glengarry leads taken. The audience might assume that Moss and Aronow did the deed, given their conversation. Roma is upset because he made a deal to sell property to Lingk and doesn’t want the burglary to mess up his first place standing that will get him the car and the good leads. Aronow and Moss are interrogated by the police concerning the theft, and Moss acts indignant about being suspected, which is deceptive considering we know he wanted Aronow to steal the leads.

Levene, however, is ecstatic because he sold property off of one of the inferior leads, and brags about his abilities. Roma admires the older man because Levene was his mentor. At that point Lingk shows up. He has talked the deal over with his wife. She contacted an attorney who told her the law says they have three business days to get out of the deal. Lingk haltingly tries to get out of the transaction. Roma, illegally trying to evade a termination of the contract, has Levine, who catches on quickly, to pretend he is an enthusiastic customer who Roma has to get to the airport. But Lingk stops him just before Roma leaves by saying he wants his money back. Roma tries to buy time to convince the Lingks to continue with the deal. Williamson, however, enters and doesn’t know what has transpired. He thinks he is helping by saying that he sent Lingk’s check to be cashed. Lingk is upset that he now has to take legal action to end the deal. He actually apologizes to Roma, and comes off as a pathetic character who allowed himself to be a victim, but now has been ordered by his wife to put him in this uncomfortable position. In this testosterone-fueled environment, he appears unmanly.

Roma then verbally attacks Williamson for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t, calling him a “fairy,” another example of the homophobic, emasculating attitude in this environment. After Roma goes into Williamson’s office to be interviewed by the police, Levene continues to insult Williamson, since he is angry at Williamson coldly dismissing him earlier when Levene tried to make a deal for the Glengarry leads. But, Levene slips up, telling Williamson he shouldn’t make things up if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Williamson then asks how would Levene know that Williamson didn’t send in Lingk’s check to be cashed. He and the audience now realize that it was Levene who broke in and stole the leads. In addition, Williamson says the people to whom Levene sold property are “crazy. They just like talking to salesmen,” and the check they wrote will bounce. His statement illustrates how futile their task is. The system is rigged to penalize these men if they aren’t unscrupulously slick enough to cheat their way to the top.

It is sad to hear Roma come back into the room and continue to praise Levene and talk about starting a partnership, not knowing that Levene will probably go to jail, not for doing something wrong, which is what would happen in an ethical world, but for getting caught. Aronow returns to his desk and starts making calls again, as the exploitative process continues.

The next film is The Station Agent.