November 21, 2019 – Along with Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Three Days of the Condor) and Alan J. Pakula (All the President’s Men), Michael Mann has long been on my list of favorite American directors.
After years of film school in London, Mann reached critical acclaim with the movie Thief in 1981. He then went on to executive produce the TV series Miami Vice (1984-1989) and Crime Story (1986-1988). Besides the films featured below in MY FAVES and the aforementioned Thief, Mann also directed The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Ali (2001).
Like many directors of his era, Mann is a triple threat. He wrote the screenplays for the films he has directed. And he is a renowned cinematographer. His films have a distinct, intentional look, which is probably one of the things that draws me to his work.
An all-star cast fill out this Mann-written tale of cops versus robbers, whose profits were $100 million over budget. This was the first time Pacino and De Niro were onscreen together, which may have contributed to the film’s success. (They worked together again in 2019’s The Irishman.) The film is a bit too long (see fan edit section below), but it’s still a classic, and has one of the longest, loudest gun battles in film history. The movie is also bathed in Mann’s signature blue hue. For more info, see the fan edit section below.
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Jon Voight, Dennis Haysbert, Wes Studi, Mykelti Williamson, Ted Levine, William Fichtner, Tom Noonan, Ricky Harris, Tone Loc, Jeremy Piven, Harry Rollins, Kevin Gage, Hank Azaria, and a young Natalie Portman
IMDb: 8.2
Where: iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
This is a fictionalized account of a true story. Crowe plays Jeffrey Wigand, a chemist who eventually becomes a whistleblower on the tobacco industry. Pacino plays 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, who helps Wigand come forward. A very well-done drama. Nominated for seven Oscars and five Golden Globes.
Cast: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer, Philip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Colm Feore, Bruce McGill
IMDb: 7.8
Where: iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
A young William Petersen, pre-CSI fame, plays Will Graham, a traumatized former FBI profiler who’s brought back to help catch a vicious serial killer. This is the first movie in the storyline that later became famous with The Silence of the Lambs (1991). In fact, Hannibal Lecktor is one of the characters. The film is now considered a cult classic. It deserves a higher IMDb rating, and is considerably better than its 2002 remake Red Dragon starring Edward Norton. Petersen is fantastic in this, but be warned the film is creepy.
Cast: William Petersen (CSI), Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Stephen Lang
IMDb: 7.2
Where: Starz, Amazon Prime (Starz), iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
An L.A. cab driver (Foxx) is taken hostage by a lethal, determined hitman (Cruise) who forces him to drive him around all night as he carries out his hits. Very intense, lots of action. A box-office win for Mann, with over $100 million in profit.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill
IMDb: 7.5
Where: iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
An international cast with international locations. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) plays a convicted hacker who’s brought out from prison to help stop a cyber-terrorist. I thought Hemsworth was believable in the role, and feel like this movie deserves a higher rating. Then again, I really like Michael Mann’s movies, and this one has Mann’s usual intensity and action. In any case, for whatever reason, the film (a January release) was a major loss. Its box office made less than 30% of its budget, in spite of Hemsworth’s popularity.
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Leehom Wang
IMDb: 5.4
Where: iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
Two Miami police detectives go undercover to thwart drug traffickers. This seems a bit darker and more brooding than the TV series. Again, an underrated film if you’re a Michael Mann fan. This one did make budget, though, plus another $30 million. As with Heat, the personal lives of the detectives are showcased.
Cast: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li, Naomie Harris, Ciarán Hinds, Justin Theroux
IMDb: 6.0
Where: Starz, Amazon Prime (Starz), iTunes, Amazon On Demand, Vudu
If you google “movies that are too long,” you may find Heat in many of the resulting articles’ lists. Heat is almost three hours long. Ouch. It’s not an ouch because it’s long, but rather because it feels long.
The main culprit for the movie’s lengthy feeling is Mann’s desire to detail the personal lives of his main detective (Pacino) and robbers (De Niro, Kilmer, et al.). If you remove their personal relationships (wife, lover, etc.), the film becomes crisper. Mann included this story element probably to convey that the personal lives of cops and criminals are not so different. However, many of the relationship scenes seem forced and do not advance the main narrative. With that in mind, I removed the following:
Other than that, it was a standard job of making smoother transitions throughout, and fixing the audio levels, which were horrible. There was super-loud gunfire and foley, but then super-low vocals, except for Pacino who was often too loud. When Pacino does his subtle acting thing, he’s in a class of his own. When he goes over the top, it’s cringeworthy.
At about the middle of the film is the much-anticipated on-screen pairing of De Niro and Pacino. They have a lengthy talk in a diner. I didn’t feel like any of it should be removed. The two were paired again in 2019’s The Irishman (Netflix).
Btw, if watching the movie you wonder, “How does Eady know Neil robbed a bank?" I think you’re supposed to assume she saw his photo on the news coverage about the robbery.
Original Running Time: 2:50
Fan Edit Running Time: 2:13
Link to fan edit: here.