Heist (2001)

A career jewel thief finds himself at tense odds with his longtime partner, a crime boss who sends his nephew to keep watch.

Director:

David Mamet

Writer:

David Mamet

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Rebecca Pidgeon, Danny DeVito

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Joe Moore
Danny DeVito	...	Mickey Bergman (as Danny Devito)
Delroy Lindo	...	Bobby 'Bob' Blane
Sam Rockwell	...	Jimmy Silk
Rebecca Pidgeon	...	Fran Moore
Ricky Jay	...	Don 'Pinky' Pincus
Patti LuPone	...	Betty Croft (as Patti Lupone)
Alan Bilzerian	...	Fast Food Customer
Richard L. Friedman	...	Counterman
Robert Lussier	...	Fast Food Cook
Mark Camacho	...	Jewelry Store Guard
Michelle Sweeney	...	Waitress
Elyzabeth Walling	...	Jewelry Saleswoman
Mike Tsar	...	Coffee Cart Man (as Mike Tsarouchas)
Jim Frangione	...	D.A. Freccia

Storyline

David Mamet takes this story of thieves along many twists and turns, some of which work and some of which don't. Gene Hackman plays the brilliant leader of a gang (Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay & Rebecca Pigeon as Hackman's youngish wife), which 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 nephew (Sam Rockwell) in the crime. No one trusts anyone and every step is shaded with the unexpected.

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Plot Keywords:

time bomb | gang | heist | wife's sexual pretence | one word title | 

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Taglines:

Love makes the world go 'round... Love of Gold.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Best Hollywood [Hungary] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heist - Der letzte Coup

Filming Locations:

Mirabel, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$39,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,823,521, 11 November 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$47,239, 22 November 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment, Franchise Pictures, Indelible Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor-magician-illusionist Ricky Jay, whom 'Heist' writer-director David Mamet directed in his smash Off Broadway one man show, 'Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants' (1996), said: "I've been lucky enough to work with David on a number of films. This one is different in that it is not a conventional con movie, it really is a heist movie and depicts a different strata of the criminal sub-culture". Jay drew a parallel between the renowned writer-director's unmistakable writing and his own background in the world of magic. Jay said: "My mentor, the late great Guy Vernon, who many people thought was the greatest sleight of hand artist in the world, is credited with saying, 'In the performance of good magic, the mind is led, step upon step, to ingeniously defeat its own logic'. That's the way I view David's writing".

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Goofs

The boxes in the airplane containing the gold come from the "Bank of Geneva" and have the image of a bear. The animal of Geneva is the eagle, not the bear, which belongs to Berne, the Swiss capital.

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Quotes

Bergman: Are you fuckin' with me? Are you FUCKIN' with me? Or are you done FUCKIN' with me? Because I've just financialized the problem, and you've just become more trouble than you're worth.

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Crazy Credits

The opening Warner Bros., Morgan Creek, and Franchise Pictures logos are in black and white.

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Connections

References The Untouchables (1987)

User Reviews

Double-crosses and slang galore, but not a bad film

I didn't know anything about David Mamet before I saw this film... now I know that he's got a penchant for characters with ulterior motives and slang-heavy dialog. Going into this film, I didn't expect anything but a(surprise surprise) heist flick. I got just that. Not just a heist flick, but a well-acted, nicely directed and quite entertaining one, at that. The plot is pretty good, and keeps your interest throughout. There are a fair bit of double-crosses throughout, and near the end, it does get somewhat tiresome. The acting is all top-notch. Not one performance was even slightly off. It's no surprise to see such high-quality acting from Hackman, Lindo and Rockwell, but I had not expected such excellent performances from DeVito and Jay. The writing is very good, but Mamet uses too many clichés and there's just a tad too much going on in the shadows, people conspiring against each other. The dialog tries oh so hard to be clever, and occasionally succeeds, but more often than not, it just comes off as pretentiousness, with all the slang, the attempts at being clever and the ridiculously high pace it sometimes sports. The cinematography is great, not one shot was poor or out of place. The pacing is mostly good, though the film seems to go on just a bit too long. All in all, an entertaining heist film, but not one to watch much more than one time. I recommend this to all fans of heist flicks, any of the actors and David Mamet(who seems to be all about these films). 7/10