Film Analysis of "Heat" (Dir. Michael Mann 1995): DeNiro and Pacino Actor Comparison ( Pages 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 )

 

 Other essays and articles in the Arts Archives related to this topic include : Tribal Depictions in the Michael Mann Film, The Last of the Mohicans (1992)  • The Presence of the Classic Epic Hero in the Film Star Wars •  Comparison of Films "Sidewalks of London" and "La Strada" : Leigh and Masina    Film Comparison of "Gone with the Wind" and "Cold Mountain"

 

Before even viewing the 1995 film by director Michael Mann, "Heat" starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, there are a number of character types one should already expect to encounter. Any good old-fashioned cops-and-robbers movie, including either old or new films of this genre, revolves around the development and fulfillment of a simple but essential narrative premise: there are bad guys and then there are good guys, and for each character type, there is a single figure who embodies the traits and behaviors which his partners in crime—or in crime fighting—should aspire to emulate. True to the expectations of the action-thriller film genre, the popular 1995 Hollywood movie “Heat” starring superstars DeNiro and Pacino, conforms to this predictable plot device by setting two strong characters into direct and persistent opposition with one another. One character is a cop, the other character is a robber-- a big-time robber-- and both are equally dedicated to the perfection of the craft that their chosen profession demands.

 

 It is this dynamic in the film by the director Michael Mann that keeps the movie interesting and which provokes the tension of suspense and anticipation in the viewer as the two characters, played by perennial audience favorites Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, use their vastly different character types to show that there is really very little difference between the personalities of the men whose characters Pacino and DeNiro have assumed. A detailed analysis of Pacino’s and DeNiro’s roles in this film, performances, and personalities in “Heat” reveals how two different character types can elicit similar feelings of empathy and identification in viewers when the acting styles and skills of the actors are matched well and when the screenplay permits the actors creative license to embody their characters fully.

 

One of the reasons why director Michael Mann’s movie “Heat” garnered such effusively positive critical response was that his cast was a solid one, with actors matched perfectly to the roles that were available. A cops-and-robbers movie activates and exploits stereotypes for all of their narrative energy and worth, and in “Heat,” there was no actor-character match in the densely populated cast that struck a false note throughout the entire Michael Mann film. No match was better, however, than the one made between two actors and their respective characters. In fact, the film “Heat” was well-attended by movie-goers upon its release and is still a brisk renter and seller more than ten years after its big-screen debut because of its big-name co-stars in action together. Much was made out of the fact that the film starring DeNiro and Pacino, “Heat” was the first movie to bring together Robert De Niro and Al Pacino on screen, and neither of the actors failed to disappoint audiences with their combination of intense personalities and well-developed acting skills.

 

 Both De Niro and Pacino are compelling screen presences, and both have an extensive history playing good-guy/bad-guy roles in an impressive resume of other iconic American movies, such as “Serpico” (1973), “Scarface” (1983), “The Untouchables” (1987), “Goodfellas” (1990), “The Godfather” (various), “Carlito’s Way” (1993), “A Bronx Tale” (1993), “Casino” (1995), “Donnie Brasco” (1997), and “The Score” (2001), among others. Because of the roles that they have played in these movies, both De Niro and Pacino have come to be associated with Italian-American police, gangster, and crime thrillers, and in this sense, audiences view both men as character actors for these specific types of films. In fact, the movies in which De Niro and Pacino have deviated from these character types—“Analyze This” (1999), “Analyze That” (2002), “Gigli” (2003), and “Meet the Parents” (2000)-- for example, have not fared as well with audiences, who seem unable to separate De Niro and Pacino from the good-guy/bad-guy thrillers in which their acting reputations were built.

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