One foot in theater, one foot in film, and heralded often for both. Consider how the New York Times<\/em> wrote about this man: in 1978, praising his \u201crestless intellect<\/a>\u201d; in 1985, his \u201cgritty eloquence<\/a>.\u201d The Postman Always Rings Twice<\/em>, The Untouchables<\/em>, Glengarry Glen Ross<\/em>, Wag the Dog<\/em>, Ronin<\/em>. Just groups of guys doing groups-of-guy stuff: tracking down criminals, competing against each other in real estate, engaging in imperialism as a political cover-up, trying to figure out what\u2019s so special about a goddamn briefcase. Are the accusations against Mamet of misogynistic writing unfounded? They are not. The man cannot write a woman with any depth past abstraction (which provides some kind of grim irony to his daughter Zosia starring in so many series that do a better job at that very task: Mad Men<\/em>, Girls<\/em>, The Flight Attendant<\/em>). But when it comes to \u201cintricate plotting and comic audacity,\u201d as James McManus described Mamet\u2019s first novel The Village<\/em> in a 1994 New York Times<\/em> book review? Ronin<\/em> had that, and the similarly minded Heist<\/em> does, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Time has a way of mellowing you. In that 1978 profile, Mamet said of his creative goals, \u201cThe last thing Mr. Mamet wants to be held responsible for is being diverting.\u201d But aside from an ugly undercurrent of lines mocking Chinese people, \u201cdiverting\u201d is exactly what Heist<\/em> is: a perfectly serviceable, easily entertaining two hours of backstabbing, betrayals, and double crosses. The writing is both pointed and goofy in that way Mamet has so perfected, with actors called upon to say somewhat silly things with utmost sincerity. \u201cYoung, dumb, and full of cum!\u201d during an argument. \u201cYou want to play O.K. Corral? You want to dress up and play?\u201d during a fistfight. \u201cKiss my Yankee ass!\u201d during an argument that then becomes<\/em> a fistfight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What does Gene Hackman being a Yankee have to do with anything? Do people even still use that term anymore? None of it makes any sense! And yet Heist <\/em>has enough finesse from its ensemble and enough style from its set pieces that these moments are a welcome bit of jarring absurdity. With an array of strange metaphors and similes, unexpected non sequiturs, and double-take-causing one liners, Heist<\/em> builds a world of men who do some things better than nearly anyone else. They lie. They steal. And they lie some more to get away with their stealing, which is really the only way to do it. \u201cAnybody can get the goods. The hard part\u2019s getting away,\u201d Hackman\u2019s Joe Moore says when explaining his line of work. And if you don\u2019t get away at all? Well, that\u2019s a risk in this line of work, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n * The heist movie is a foundational American subgenre, and it appeals to the capitalist-trained part of our identity that hammers home efficiency<\/em> and productivity<\/em>\u2014and also to the other<\/em> capitalist-trained part of our identity that is aware of the brutal realities of this economic system, and the desperation and disparity that result from it. Dead Presidents<\/em> and Dog Day Afternoon<\/em>. Heat<\/em> and Hell or High Water<\/em>. The Taking of Pelham 123<\/em><\/a> and Triple Frontier<\/em>. Heist<\/em> doesn\u2019t make entirely clear the circumstances that have led these men (and one woman) to this line of work. But what Mamet\u2019s script emphasizes is that they\u2019re almost out of options, and what the ensemble\u2019s stellar acting work communicates is that once this option is off the table, the table itself will cease to exist. These are characters who talk over and over and over about having backup plan after backup plan after backup plan. But infinity isn\u2019t a reality, it\u2019s a theory. And theories don\u2019t pay the bills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hackman stars as Joe, the leader of a meticulous crew. His younger wife Fran (Mamet\u2019s wife Rebecca Pidgeon) can talk her way out of anything and can disappear into any role. Pinky (Ricky Jay) is a great diversion, the kind of guy who will do anything\u2014walk into traffic, luxuriate in a conversation with an opponent\u2014to make sure Joe gets away. And second-in-command Bobby Blane (Delroy Lindo), fresh out of prison and refusing to ever go back, takes no bullshit from anyone. He\u2019ll stand up to Joe, and he\u2019ll stand up to their fence Mickey Bergman (Danny DeVito) if the job doesn\u2019t feel right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For years, Joe\u2019s crew has moved around, hitting jewelry stores with an array of specialized plans. Heist <\/em>opens with one: Fran poses as a waitress and slips a sedative into the coffees ordered by a jewelry store employee; Pinky plants a bomb in a trashcan, causing an explosion that rushes everyone away from the store; Bobby changes his hat and his glasses before breaking open the door. But humans can be unpredictable, and one of the jewelry store employees doesn\u2019t drink the tainted coffee\u2014and so Joe shows his face on camera before tasing her. The little flex of Hackman\u2019s jaw and the anger burning in his eyes when he sees the blinking red camera light is the kind of nuance that comes from decades of experience. And once Joe realizes that he\u2019s burned, their next job with Mickey becomes very complicated\u2014and possibly even compromised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As in Ronin<\/em>, Heist<\/em> avoids divulging too many details about the job before progressing us deep in it. But each scene moves us forward into understanding the contrasting forces at play, and the various motivations and ambitions of these characters. DeVito\u2019s Mickey is irritated and angry: He\u2019s sunk money into the next \u201cSwiss job\u201d that Joe had initially agreed to do, and he doesn\u2019t want to lose his investment. Fran is concerned: Should they cut and run? Pinky and Bobby are loyal, but slightly wary: Is Joe losing his focus, and if so, what happens to them? And finally, there\u2019s also Mickey\u2019s wildcard nephew Jimmy Silk (Sam Rockwell, without a dance scene but with his trademark loveable smarm). Unlike the crew, who use violence as a last resort, flashing his gun is always Jimmy\u2019s first choice, and a close second is making eyes at Fran. \u201cYou just need somebody to lean on,\u201d Jimmy smirks to Fran, but is dependability really what this man\u2014mustachioed, reckless\u2014is offering? <\/p>\n\n\n\n So these men perform their little scenes, play-acting against each other and responding to each other\u2019s challenges and insults in theatrical moments that feed into a web of deception. This is Mamet, after all. So there\u2019s an elaborate back and forth between Joe and Mickey about the former\u2019s crew getting what they\u2019re owed, each lobbing bombastic threats at the other in a fur emporium\u2019s backroom, in a city alley, on a park bench. There\u2019s the dance Jimmy and Bobby do, with the former daring to call the latter \u201cthe help\u201d and then receiving a sucker punch for his disrespect. In a career full of perfect moments, Lindo\u2019s disgusted delivery of \u201cYou know why the chicken crossed the road? Because the road crossed the chicken!\u201d ranks fairly high. And at the end of it all, there\u2019s Hackman\u2019s Joe, looking back on his career of persistent deviousness and hard-earned gains and wondering, \u201cWhat more can you ask of anyone?\u201d Not much, and there\u2019s not much more one can ask of the consistently entertaining Heist<\/em>, either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Heist is streaming on Prime Video<\/a> and Tubi<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/heist2-1024x684.jpg\")
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\u201cEverybody needs money. That\u2019s why they call it money.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n