Heist (film)
Encyclopedia
Heist is a 2001 crime film, written and directed by David Mamet
, which stars Gene Hackman
, Danny DeVito
, Delroy Lindo
, Rebecca Pidgeon
, Ricky Jay
, and Sam Rockwell
.
jewelry store, Joe's face is captured by a security camera. As both the picture and a witness can identify him, Joe chooses to retire from crime and plans to disappear on his sailboat
with his wife, living off their share of the heist.
This doesn't sit well with Joe's fence, Mickey Bergman (DeVito), who runs a legitimate garment business as a front. After accruing a number of expenses in setting up another, much more complicated robbery, Bergman decides to withhold the payment due to Joe and his crew. He insists they go through with the other job — hijacking a Swiss airplane carrying a large shipment of gold. Bergman further insists that his hot-headed nephew, Jimmy Silk (Rockwell), be a part of the crew.
Joe reluctantly accepts, but a series of shifting loyalties amongst thieves changes the complexity of their task. That includes Jimmy's personal interest in Joe's wife and the belief of both Bergman and Jimmy that Joe's skills are in decline.
The plane robbery is set up as a series of misdirections. Pinky poses as an airport guard while Joe, Bobby, and Jimmy pose as airport security personnel. They stop the jet while pretending to be responding to an onboard emergency. They fill a van with what they take from the plane, then move the van to a rented garage on the airport grounds, where they re-brand it and call for a tow truck to have it hauled away.
Jimmy betrays the others in a bid to steal both the gold and Fran. He knocks out Joe after everyone else has left, then tells Fran that he knows Joe had changed the plan. He and Fran take the van, but Jimmy finds out that, instead of bars of gold, the hidden compartments are filled with metallic washers.
Joe avoids arrest and returns to the plane in disguise. He and Bobby remove a shipment of goods they had booked on board the same Swiss flight, which they insist now must be driven to its destination due to the plane's delay on the runway. Inside the shipment is the stolen gold, which Joe and Bobby then melt and mold into long golden rods.
A furious Bergman has his thugs apprehend Pinky, who is walking his young niece to school. Pinky discloses the plan in order to save his niece's life (but not his own). Bergman and his crew arrive at Joe's sailboat along with Jimmy and Fran, where they hold Joe at gunpoint, demanding to know: "Where's the gold?"
They notice that the railings of the boat are golden. Fran leaves with Jimmy, pleading with Bergman to give Joe some money and let him go. Bergman checks the railings. They turn out to be merely painted. Bergman counts to three, preparing to shoot Joe, when a hidden Bobby surfaces and opens fire. Bergman's men are killed. Bergman is wounded and helpless. He asks Joe, "Don't you want to hear my last words?" Joe replies, "I just did," and shoots him dead.
Bobby gives Joe the address where to send his share. Joe waits to meet Fran with a new truck filled with black-painted gold rods. Jimmy shows up with Fran. They take the truck and the gold, Fran telling Joe: "You're the one who sent me to him. You shouldn't have sent me to him."
A double-crossed Joe gets into a different much older truck to leave. A black bar in the truck accidentally scrapes the garage doorway, revealing a gold tint underneath. Joe lifts a tarp in the truck bed, revealing that most of the real gold rods were concealed under it. He covers the scratched rod with the tarpaulin
and drives away, smiling.
, critical reaction for Heist was mixed to positive, with an overall 65% approval rating. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 60%. The critical consensus summary was that "Heist didn't cover any new ground, but the cast and Mamet's expertise with witty banter make it worthwhile."
Essentially a re-examination of Mamet's favorite device, the confidence game, the film was more of a success with critics than audiences. Roger Ebert
is among the film's admirers, praising not only Mamet's trademark verbal constructions ("Everybody needs money — that's why they call it money!") and restrained approach to on-screen gunplay, but also the care that the director
takes in shaping the relationships between the principals.
and Canada
. In total it had a worldwide gross of $28,510,652, significantly lower than the film's production budget of $39 million.
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
, which stars Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
, Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
, Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
, Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
, and Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
.
Plot
Joe Moore (Hackman) runs a ring of professional thieves, which includes Bobby Blane (Lindo), Don "Pinky" Pincus (Jay) and Joe's much younger wife Fran (Pidgeon). During a daylight robbery of a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
jewelry store, Joe's face is captured by a security camera. As both the picture and a witness can identify him, Joe chooses to retire from crime and plans to disappear on his sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
with his wife, living off their share of the heist.
This doesn't sit well with Joe's fence, Mickey Bergman (DeVito), who runs a legitimate garment business as a front. After accruing a number of expenses in setting up another, much more complicated robbery, Bergman decides to withhold the payment due to Joe and his crew. He insists they go through with the other job — hijacking a Swiss airplane carrying a large shipment of gold. Bergman further insists that his hot-headed nephew, Jimmy Silk (Rockwell), be a part of the crew.
Joe reluctantly accepts, but a series of shifting loyalties amongst thieves changes the complexity of their task. That includes Jimmy's personal interest in Joe's wife and the belief of both Bergman and Jimmy that Joe's skills are in decline.
The plane robbery is set up as a series of misdirections. Pinky poses as an airport guard while Joe, Bobby, and Jimmy pose as airport security personnel. They stop the jet while pretending to be responding to an onboard emergency. They fill a van with what they take from the plane, then move the van to a rented garage on the airport grounds, where they re-brand it and call for a tow truck to have it hauled away.
Jimmy betrays the others in a bid to steal both the gold and Fran. He knocks out Joe after everyone else has left, then tells Fran that he knows Joe had changed the plan. He and Fran take the van, but Jimmy finds out that, instead of bars of gold, the hidden compartments are filled with metallic washers.
Joe avoids arrest and returns to the plane in disguise. He and Bobby remove a shipment of goods they had booked on board the same Swiss flight, which they insist now must be driven to its destination due to the plane's delay on the runway. Inside the shipment is the stolen gold, which Joe and Bobby then melt and mold into long golden rods.
A furious Bergman has his thugs apprehend Pinky, who is walking his young niece to school. Pinky discloses the plan in order to save his niece's life (but not his own). Bergman and his crew arrive at Joe's sailboat along with Jimmy and Fran, where they hold Joe at gunpoint, demanding to know: "Where's the gold?"
They notice that the railings of the boat are golden. Fran leaves with Jimmy, pleading with Bergman to give Joe some money and let him go. Bergman checks the railings. They turn out to be merely painted. Bergman counts to three, preparing to shoot Joe, when a hidden Bobby surfaces and opens fire. Bergman's men are killed. Bergman is wounded and helpless. He asks Joe, "Don't you want to hear my last words?" Joe replies, "I just did," and shoots him dead.
Bobby gives Joe the address where to send his share. Joe waits to meet Fran with a new truck filled with black-painted gold rods. Jimmy shows up with Fran. They take the truck and the gold, Fran telling Joe: "You're the one who sent me to him. You shouldn't have sent me to him."
A double-crossed Joe gets into a different much older truck to leave. A black bar in the truck accidentally scrapes the garage doorway, revealing a gold tint underneath. Joe lifts a tarp in the truck bed, revealing that most of the real gold rods were concealed under it. He covers the scratched rod with the tarpaulin
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
and drives away, smiling.
Critical reception
According to Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, critical reaction for Heist was mixed to positive, with an overall 65% approval rating. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 60%. The critical consensus summary was that "Heist didn't cover any new ground, but the cast and Mamet's expertise with witty banter make it worthwhile."
Essentially a re-examination of Mamet's favorite device, the confidence game, the film was more of a success with critics than audiences. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
is among the film's admirers, praising not only Mamet's trademark verbal constructions ("Everybody needs money — that's why they call it money!") and restrained approach to on-screen gunplay, but also the care that the director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
takes in shaping the relationships between the principals.
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film opened at #5, it grossed $7,823,521 in 1,891 theaters in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In total it had a worldwide gross of $28,510,652, significantly lower than the film's production budget of $39 million.
Cast
- Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
as Joe Moore - Danny DeVitoDanny DeVitoDaniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
as Mickey Bergman - Delroy LindoDelroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Bobby Blane - Rebecca PidgeonRebecca PidgeonRebecca Pidgeon is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She has maintained a recording career while also acting on stage and in feature films. She is married to the American writer and director David Mamet.-Early life:...
as Fran - Sam RockwellSam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
as Jimmy Silk - Ricky JayRicky JayRichard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
as Pinky