REEL CRITICS

Richard Brunette, Gay Wassall-Kelly and Bill Kelly

Mamet doesn’t quite pull off ‘Heist’

Written and directed by the king of cussing, “Heist” is David Mamet’s

new crime caper. A Mamet screenplay can always be counted on for its

abundant use of intelligent, albeit colorful, gritty and streetwise

language, including generous use of the “f” word. In “Heist,” f-bombs are

dropped from characters’ mouths with the frequency of explosives from

U.S. warplanes in Afghanistan.

The film stars Gene Hackman as Joe Moore, an aging master criminal

who, as partner “Pinky” Pincus (Ricky Jay) says, “is so cool, when he

goes to sleep, sheep count him.” Joe is a consummate professional who

believes in having backup plans to his backup plans.

During a jewelry store robbery, rather than kill a store clerk, Joe

allows his face to be caught on videotape. Because of this mistake, his

fence Bergman (Danny DeVito) forces Joe out on one more high-risk -- but

high-reward -- job. Upon completion of “the thing,” Joe has to “find a

shadow to lay in” so the “Five-O” don’t pinch him (a.k.a. when the job’s

done, Joe’s got to leave town and hide before the cops catch him).

With his old crew consisting of Pinky; Bobby Blane (Delroy Lindo);

Joe’s young wife, Fran (Mamet’s wife, Rebecca Pidgeon); and a new man

forced on him by Bergman -- Bergman’s nephew Jimmy Silk (Sam Rockwell) --

Joe sets off to heist a huge gold shipment from a Swiss cargo plane.

Reminiscent of hard-boiled crime dramas from the 1970s and with more

sharp turns than the letter “L,” all in all “Heist” is a decent flick

that is carried by Hackman. Even in a poor film -- which this isn’t -- he

seems to bring credibility to his roles. Delroy Lindo gives a great

performance, and DeVito shines, clearly relishing his part as a

disreputable and despicable character similar to his role as Louie on

TV’s “Taxi.”

But Ricky Jay and Rebecca Pidgeon both leave a lot to be desired as

actors (Note to Mr. Mamet: Please stop casting Rebecca in your films. I

know she’s your wife and all, but if her delivery of dialogue gets any

more deadpan, during filming she may as well just read her lines directly

from the script without benefit of practice).

So, rated R for language and some violence, on the scale of Pay Full

Price, Bargain Matinee, Video Rental, Wait for Cable or I’d Rather Be

Sent to Prison Than Watch This Film Again, I give “Heist” a very marginal

Video Rental rating.

* RICHARD BRUNETTE, 38, is a recreation supervisor for the city of

Costa Mesa and a Costa Mesa resident.

Love and hate for ‘The Man’

Gail: From the expressionless “Dragnet” narrative that threads Ed

Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) through his black and white maze of odd and

unexpected twists to the extraordinary cinematography of Roger Deakins,

this enthralling twisted tale of sex, crime and a dream is as hard-edged

noir as they come. The Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen) once again

capture the darker side.

Thornton’s star performance as a barber who talks about himself as

having little value in the world is convincing. Ed lives in a modest home

with his wife, Doris (Frances McDormand in another fabulous performance),

who is involved with her boss, Big Dave (James Gandolfini).

Ed is invisible to the world. Ed works, and no one sees him. He breaks

out of his apathetic casing and seizes a moment of opportunity when

invited to invest in a dry-cleaning business. Ed invests and gets taken.

Ed slaughters and no one believes him. Ed obsesses on a young girl who

can’t even see him. Ed can’t win!

With a fine supporting cast and expertly crafted attention to detail,

I think this is one of the Coens’ best films. Awards will be forthcoming.

Bill: Let’s look for the best description . . . dull, dry, dawdling,

of no value . . . is that enough? All I can say is that this was a bit

more exciting than watching black and white 8-millimeter home movies.

I guessed every dark spiral and bend before it twisted down a road of

nothing. Jack Webb on “Dragnet” had more expression than this entire

movie. Remember that some time ago they invented color? The Coen brothers

should have jumped on that bandwagon.

Very few movies have you looking at your watch in the dark to see how

much longer this torture can last. This was one of them.

Gay says: “The Man” was worth seeing.

Bill says: “The Man” wasn’t. Save your money.

“The Man Who Wasn’t There” is rated R for a scene of violence.

* GAY WASSALL-KELLY, 61, is the editor of a Balboa newspaper and is

active in the community. BILL KELLY, 59, is an industrial engineer.