Heat (Michael Mann)

Rating: 2.0					Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Three hours was the wrong running time for this movie; it should have run 
either ninety minutes, or seven hours.  A ninety-minute running time 
would necessitate the excision of many of the film's numerous subplots, 
particularly those involving the romantic partners of nearly every male 
character (not to mention a pointless, meaningless, and senseless 
serial-rapist subplot that never amounts to anything).  A seven-hour 
running time would permit Mann to actually develop all of these subplots 
in a way that might conceivably render them coherent and germane.  As it 
is, HEAT feels incredibly bloated; it's a very ambitious film that 
doesn't even come close to achieving most of its goals, and it would 
probably have worked a lot better as a simple, routine cops'n'robbers 
picture.  The big draw, of course, is Pacino and De Niro Together At 
Last, but their two scenes together aren't anything particularly 
special (and De Niro is consistently boring me now -- he really needs to 
take on a Rupert Pupkin or a Harry Tuttle again, stretch himself).  A 
couple of action set pieces are pretty effective, but not enough for me 
to give this even a halfhearted recommendation.