Heist **** (2001, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon, Delroy Lindo, Ricky Jay, Patti LuPone) – Classic Movie Review 1,123

David Mamet’s 2001 crime thriller film Heist stars Gene Hackman as a crook forced into pulling off one last gold heist by his vicious partner in crime (Danny DeVito).

Writer-director David Mamet’s 2001 American crime thriller film Heist stars Gene Hackman, who may be 70 here, but he shows he’s still a great action hero as Joe Moore, a crook forced into pulling off one last gold heist by his vicious partner in crime, a despicable fence called Mickey Bergman (Danny DeVito).

After stiffing Hackman’s gang on a jewellery robbery, tiny terror DeVito forces them to go after a Swiss gold shipment. He makes Hackman take along his nasty nephew Jimmy Silk (Sam Rockwell), who promptly falls for Hackman’s much younger wife Fran (Rebecca Pidgeon). Delroy Lindo and Ricky Jay also star as Bobby ‘Bob’ Blane and Don ‘Pinky’ Pincus, with Patti LuPone as Betty Croft.

No cliché is left out of his screenplay by ace writer-director Mamet, but that doesn’t stop this from still being a riveting, masterful, old-style thriller, handled with pace, cheek and a lot of verve. It’s mainly driven by dialogue, performance and character, but there are also enough twists and turns in the plot and gunplay as well to make it a satisfying thriller.

Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay and Patti LuPone are all also in Mamet’s 2000 film satire State and Main.

The worldwide gross of $28 million was much lower than the film’s production budget of $39 million, but DVD came to the rescue with more than $72 million in home video rentals in the United States. In any case the film was already in profit before it was finished through international pre-sales.

Though mostly set in and around Boston, the film is shot in Montreal.

Franchise Pictures agreed to finance the film if it starred Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito, and gave David Mamet total creative freedom within the budget.

Gene Hackman said he found shooting difficult and uncomfortable because of his age.

Rebecca Pidgeon and David Mamet married on September 22, 1991.

David Mamet’s also known for State and Main (2000) and The Winslow Boy (1999), as well as Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).

The cast

The cast are Gene Hackman as Joe Moore, Danny DeVito as Mickey Bergman, Delroy Lindo as Bobby ‘Bob’ Blane, Rebecca Pidgeon as Fran Moore Sam Rockwell as Jimmy Silk, Ricky Jay as Don ‘Pinky’ Pincus, and Patti LuPone as Betty Croft.

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