THIS WEEK: Heists Gone Wrong
THE FILMS: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007, Sidney Lumet), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, Joseph Sargent), Heat (2005, Michael Mann)
This is a film genre where the audience roots for the bad guy. As we live vicariously through the characters, we’re getting one over on the man and often doing something dangerous, something illegal. There’s a small part of all of us that wants to go on a heist. Luckily there’s a vast archive of films that goes on heists for us, since heists almost never work out.
This genre has a relatively boilerplate formula: a criminal mastermind hatches a plan and recruits a team to execute said plan, but then something inevitably goes wrong—usually because of some last-minute addition to the crew—and the second half of the film is spent trying to escape the long arm of the law. It’s a template that both stands the test of time and is flexible, as you’ll learn in this week’s triple feature.
The films here—Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and Heat—stick to the basics but put their own spin on telling a fundamentally similar story. All helmed by great directors, they span three decades of cinema and show that “the heist gone wrong” is an endless resource for great storytelling and will likely remain a place where we can cheer for the bad guy.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, 2007, Sidney Lumet
In this, his final film, legendary director Sidney Lumet reminds us that he’s one of the best we’ve had. At the age of 82, just two years after receiving an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement—his first after five nominations for Best Director (how he lost to John G. Avildsen in 1976 remains a mystery)—he gave us this botched-heist film, on par with his masterpieces, Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead follows the story of Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffmann) and Hank (Ethan Hawke), two brothers who are down on their luck for different reasons. Andy hatches a plan to pull off what he considers a victimless crime: robbing a strip mall jewelry store he knows the ins and outs of. He enlists Hank. Of course, things go wrong—terribly wrong—and what was supposed to be an easy score unleashes a series of dark and desperate events that turn the world of these brothers and their families upside down.
The screenplay, adapted from a book by Lawrence Block, from first-time screenwriter Kelly Masterson, tells the story out of order, jumping back and forth in time to reveal a few more details in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the robbery. This technique could crash and burn quickly, but under Lumet’s keen direction it tells the story interestingly and effectively. And unlike many heist films, this one is filled with emotion—primarily regret and remorse. Hoffman and Hawke play them perfectly, as does the outstanding supporting cast of heavyweights: Marisa Tomei, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon, and Albert Finney.
Good luck finding a contemporary noir thriller as engaging and beautifully crafted as Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. It’s bleak, it’s visceral, and it’s so prime Lumet that you’d swear it was made in the ’70s.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, 1974, Joseph Sargent
Seventies cinema in America was filled with crime stories. Things weren’t so great in the real world, and that was reflected on the big screen. Trauma from Vietnam, mistrust of authority after Watergate, and an economy worse than it had been since the Great Depression were all themes—both overt and subtle—of the decade. Films like Mean Streets, Dog Day Afternoon, and The French Connection showed us people who were angry—and, often, people who would do just about anything to get their hands on some dough. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Joseph Sargent’s 1974 film based on John Godey’s novel of the same name, sits firmly among these classics as one of the best crime stories captured on celluloid, in that decade or any other.
Set in New York City, Pelham captures the realness of the gritty Big Apple during this period with solid characters and a plot that couldn’t unfold anywhere else. A group of armed men led by Robert Shaw hijack a subway train and take its passengers hostage, demanding a ransom of $1 million or they’ll start shooting people. It’s up to wisecracking transit detective Lt. Zach Garber (Walter Matthau) to negotiate with the men while also finding a way to thwart their plan. The clock ticks and the heist plays out just as Shaw’s character plotted it…until it doesn’t. When everything unravels, we’re treated to an ending that you probably wouldn’t have seen coming.
The film’s pace is perfect; the script balances plot and character development nicely. And despite its locale, era, and subject, it’s not all doom and gloom. Matthau and a cohort at the transit authority, Jerry Stiller, provide quips and levity throughout. Besides Stiller, the supporting cast is rounded out by the great character actors Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, Dick O’Neill, and Lee Wallace, who plays the city’s mayor, sick in bed but determined to find more votes for the upcoming election—one of several comedic hot takes on NYC at that time.
While Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead feels like a ’70s film, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three actually is one. It’s a great example of everything that made the decade the best we’ve had in film history, and the kind of film Hollywood should probably aspire to create again—not just remake.
Heat, 1995, Michael Mann
As heist films go, Heat is a tough one to top. It’s a fundamental cops and robbers story carried by two Hollywood legends. But writer/director Michael Mann hits all the beats of the genre with his trademark slick style and somewhat existential script, which makes it like the films that came before it but also uniquely its own thing.
Aside from being a Michael Mann film, what drew people to this movie when it was released in 1995 was the promise of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together on screen for the first time. The former (who plays Neal) is a stoic criminal who lives to take down scores in this, while Pacino (who plays Vincent) is an over-the-top detective who lives for busting bad guys. Throughout the film the roles of cat and mouse switch back and forth, and it’s that dynamic that makes Heat so compelling.
Also interesting is the way the story unfolds. Instead of planning one big job which leads to the film’s climax, there’s one job right at the start that goes wrong and puts Neal and his crew on Vincent’s radar—then, the detective work begins. Yes, it ultimately ends in a showdown, but the details and storytelling that take the viewer to that point are uniquely Mann and a big part of what makes this such an interesting entry in the “heist gone wrong” category. It’s also almost the opposite of the timeline from Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, so these two are great to view together.
Almost 30 years after its release, Heat maintains an incredibly high rating on Rotten Tomatoes (actually, all three of the films this week do). Despite its nearly three-hour runtime, people love it—and why shouldn’t they? It’s a great story with a great cast and a unique vision behind the camera.
FURTHER READING (AND LISTENING, AND WATCHING):
- “After 50 Years, Still No Time for Cheap Sentiment” (New York Times)
- “Sic Transit Garber’s Subway: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (Cinephilia & Beyond)
- Heat with Jon Gabrus (Blank Check with Griffin and David)
WHERE TO WATCH: