A classic

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, I remember very well when this movie came out. Back then, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were still a big deal and when the word came out that they would finally star together in a movie, like any other average movie buff, I was just thrilled. Eventually, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released and I was certainly not disappointed. Well, the cool thing with this movie is that I rewatch it approximately once every decade and, each time, I actually enjoy it even more. Seriously, there were so many details which I didn’t remember from the previous times I saw it. Anyway, the masterstroke with this movie was that, instead of rushing everything and focusing on the action scenes, they actually took their time. As a result, De Niro and Pacino, who were still at the top of their game, had enough space to develop their characters and you had the opportunity to root for both guys, the thief and the cop, which was something very rare and it was very well handled here. I think this last rewatch hit me harder this time because, not only it was and still is a masterpiece but, on top of that, for these 2 acting legends, it would be the last time that they were so good. I remember, when the movie came out, there was a little bit of frustration because they didn’t share much screentime together after all but it didn’t bother me, especially when you rewatch this movie. On top of that, this dinner scene must be one of the most iconic scenes ever shot. For Michael Mann, it was obviously his magnum-opus but, unfortunately, it would go down for him from there, even if some of his following directorial efforts were actually pretty good (‘Blackhat’ was fairly abysmal though). Anyway, to conclude, I always had a weak spot for heist movies and it is hands-down the best movie in this genre, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look.