Gene Hackman plays the veteran ringleader of a gang of theives (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife) that pulls off complex heists for a despicable fence (Danny DeVito). After stiffing the gang on a jewelry robbery, DeVito forces the gang to go after a Swiss gold shipment and to use his son (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. Mistrust runs rampant as double-crosses threaten the split-second operation.
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David Mamet's
Heist is--not unlike many of his previous films--amusing, manicured, and fraught with an awkward tension. If you've seen
The Spanish Prisoner or
House of Games, you're by now familiar with the plot-subverting gambit of the double-cross turned triple- and then quadruple-cross.
Heist sticks to the formula. Likewise, the quips and laconic wit that adorn what can most accurately be called "Mametspeak" are again on display: "Cute as a pail full of kittens," for instance, and "Everybody needs money; that's why they call it money." What you haven't yet seen in a Mamet film is the magisterial charm of Gene Hackman. In the role of Joe Moore, an aging criminal out for one final score before cashing in, Hackman shows us all (Mamet included) how it's done, embodying tough-but-clever effortlessly. Delroy Lindo, as Joe's partner Bobby, picks up on Hackman's ultra-cool and gives plenty in return. While the script and the remaining cast (Danny Devito, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell) are serviceable,
Heist is entirely Hackman's show to steal.
--Fionn Meade
