Is this Mann's best film?
It's certainly my favourite Mann film, but is it his best? What do fans think?
"Fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe."
Well, I wouldn't consider myself a Mann fan per se, but to me, Manhunter definitely ranks among his best movies. I really liked The Insider as well. Manhunter has this cool, stylish, artifical 80s look that in recent years seems to have become fashionable again - think of the way Drive looks as an example.
Funny, by the way, how many people seem to be personally insulted when someone calls Heat overrated. I'm in the "it's overrated" corner as well.
Could any hell be more horrible than now and real?
-Jim Morrison
Overrated? Are you kidding me? First of all, it can't be overrated. Look at the awards it was nominated for. It was completely ignored by the Academy and every other major award organization. If anything, it's underrated. The movie is well-written. It has some great lines (the one about being able to walk away in 30 seconds - it's smart and compelling). The scene in the coffee shop between Pacino and Deniro is probably one of the greatest scenes ever filmed. Heat has action, drama, great dialogue, and while it is rather lengthy, it allows for character development for all major characters. Even supporting character Chris Cherilus has an intensely emotional scene. Probably one of the most powerful scenes in the movie.
I'm watching Manhunter now, not too far into it. It's good so far and can definitely tell it's an '80s movie.
Not including Manhunter, here is my rough order of Mann's films:
1) Heat
2) The Last of the Mohicans
3) Collateral
4) The Insider
5) Thief
6) Public Enemies
7) Ali
8) Miami Vice
The last two are more or less a tie. Both are Mann's weakest films. Though I've only seen them once, so pending a second watch, they could be rated higher. Public Enemies I enjoyed but thought it could've been so much better.
"Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time."
1 heat/insider
3 thief
4 Miami vice
5 collateral
6 Mohicans
7 manhunter
8 Ali
9 public enemies
Heat is overrated in parlance between people. What the academy endows it with is irrelevant. There are best pictures that we never talk about and the ones that get snubbed are often the ones that get talked about so lets ditch this argument from authority plank.
In terms of Heat it suffers from the same weakness Mann always has, with excess in interpersonal relationships and in this case too much stuff stuffed into the film. Also Al Pacino is chewing up the scenery far too often for this to get a pass. De Niro was way more low key while Pacino was channeling Scent of a Woman far too much. In fact Pacino's character is very annoying and not very compelling to me. I get the premise but his actual relationships seem shallow as they tend to be in Mann films.
The entire wife and step daughter thing just didn't really fly for me, it just seemed like dead weight, while the whole Pacino at the crime scene of the dead black girl didn't even make sense other than apparently being there to illustrate his relentless attachment to dealing with the mess. Frankly I found Peterson's character in Manhunter far more compelling for what is basically the same archetype, only Peterson was understated and cerebral while Pacino just seems like a dick and flashy and his performance really comes off as cheese. Like when he was saying to his soon to be ex wife 'It keeps me sharp" while snapping his fingers. Just so... bad.
On the flip side DeNiro's love interest was far more compelling for the same reason that Dollarhyde's was in Manhunter, because it was so understated which is what works with Mann. Mann is a very stylish director and so he's much better at selling subtext without dialogue. When you rely on the dialogue you get a bunch of crap with Mann most of the time , though the reason I will always rate Manhunter as a tighter film overall is because it was such a well put together script from a dialogue perspective. The grocery store scene with his son is miles better than anything in Heat involving Pacino's personal life.
In general I really couldn't take the cops in Heat seriously. It was like low grade schlock you'd expect on TV today, only it was being sold to us by superior actors. Meanwhile the crooks in Heat were great, their dialogue and manner perfect, understated, and pro.
Heat just weighed itself down and with some better performances from Pacino in key scenes (She's gotta... GREAT ASS! And you got your head ALL UP IT!@!!@#!@) and a lot of trimmed back story that didn't work it coulda been a lot tighter, like Manhunter.
@ detroit-velvet-smooth
Good analysis and I agree entirely. Whenever I watch Heat Pacino irritates me. I like the description of Petersen as cerebral.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share