The opening Heist and the bigger one are very fine outlines, clearly not very plausible but we are all here because we want to believe what we're showed and told.
But suspension of disbelief only works if the whole movie is tense, with sharp characters, straightforward action (by action I mean a rhythm consistent in making all the parts hold together), basically a make believe game where everything comes together. Just like in a carefully planned Heist. You can't take it for granted that the movie-goer will just be baffled by a couple of goods brought together.
In Heist you are supposed to accept some incongruities, mostly with characters that are very stereotypical. You have some great actors but at some point you can't throw in a couple of weaker characters without endangering the whole balance. Simply put, the movie-goer will start thinking harder while you had created the atmosphere for him to relax and listen to your story. Then things no longer feel urgent and compulsory, you try to second-guess the writer and as a result nothing you are watching really is captivating you.
This was the 3rd and hopefully last movie penned and directed by David "Lazy Me" Mamet for me (the 2 others being House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner). I wanted to see a heist movie with Gene Hackman so I sealed of my prejudices about Mamet... but they just flowed out to tell me I should never have lost another 2 hours with that fraud of a storyteller. Big twists patched all around (and in Heist you have plenty of time to see those coming - or maybe I am Mamet certified level 3?) with utility characters and one dull homely broad in the middle. That is the Mamet trademark. Or recipe if you accept there are bad recipes to fool those with the ultra low expectations of a MOWed brain.
But suspension of disbelief only works if the whole movie is tense, with sharp characters, straightforward action (by action I mean a rhythm consistent in making all the parts hold together), basically a make believe game where everything comes together. Just like in a carefully planned Heist. You can't take it for granted that the movie-goer will just be baffled by a couple of goods brought together.
In Heist you are supposed to accept some incongruities, mostly with characters that are very stereotypical. You have some great actors but at some point you can't throw in a couple of weaker characters without endangering the whole balance. Simply put, the movie-goer will start thinking harder while you had created the atmosphere for him to relax and listen to your story. Then things no longer feel urgent and compulsory, you try to second-guess the writer and as a result nothing you are watching really is captivating you.
This was the 3rd and hopefully last movie penned and directed by David "Lazy Me" Mamet for me (the 2 others being House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner). I wanted to see a heist movie with Gene Hackman so I sealed of my prejudices about Mamet... but they just flowed out to tell me I should never have lost another 2 hours with that fraud of a storyteller. Big twists patched all around (and in Heist you have plenty of time to see those coming - or maybe I am Mamet certified level 3?) with utility characters and one dull homely broad in the middle. That is the Mamet trademark. Or recipe if you accept there are bad recipes to fool those with the ultra low expectations of a MOWed brain.