Heist (2001 film)

Not to be confused with The Heist (2001 film) or The Big Heist.

Heist
Heist poster
Directed by	David Mamet
Produced by	Art Linson Elie Samaha Andrew Stevens
Written by	David Mamet
Starring	Gene Hackman Danny DeVito Delroy Lindo
Music by	Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography	Robert Elswit
Edited by	Barbara Tulliver
Production company	Morgan Creek Productions Franchise Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	November 9, 2001 (2001-11-09)
Running time	109 mins
Country	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$39,000,000
Box office	$28,510,652

Heist is a 2001 crime film, written and directed by David Mamet, which stars Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, and Delroy Lindo, with Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, and Sam Rockwell in supporting roles.

Plot

Joe Moore runs a ring of professional thieves, which includes Bobby Blane, Don "Pinky" Pincus and Joe's wife Fran. During a daylight robbery of a New York City jewelry store, Joe's face is captured by a security camera after he takes off his mask in an attempt to con/distract the store's last remaining employee. As both the picture and a witness can identify him, Joe chooses to retire from crime and plans to disappear on his sail boat with his wife, living off their share of the heist.

This does not sit well with Joe's fence, Mickey Bergman, who runs a 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 — robbing an airplane carrying a large shipment of gold. Bergman further insists that his hot-headed nephew, Jimmy Silk, be a part of the crew.

Joe reluctantly accepts, but a series of shifting loyalties changes the complexity of their task. That includes Jimmy's personal interest in Joe's wife and Bergman and Jimmy's belief that Joe's skills are declining.

They attempt to rob the plane twice. In their first attempt, while setting up explosive devices along the border of the airport, they are stopped by passing law enforcement officers. While Joe and Bobby talk the officers into leaving, an agitated Jimmy draws his gun but is luckily stopped by the rest of the team from shooting the officers and thus blowing the team's cover. Because of this Joe calls the robbery off for that day. He later on that day forces his team out of finishing the job after he finds out that Pinky didn't (like he was told to by Joe) destroy the vehicle they were using, as it was covered in the team's fingerprints, as result of it being used in one of rare instances where the team is involved in a criminal act and none donned their usual leather gloves. Bergman doesn't accept Joe and the team's departure and forces them to finish the job.

The plane robbery is set up as a series of misdirections. Pinky poses as a guard while Joe, Bobby, and Jimmy pose as airport security personnel. They stop the jet, pretending to be responding to an 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 had known that 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 metal 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. Inside the shipment is the stolen gold, which Joe and Bobby then melt and mold into long rods.

A furious Bergman apprehends Pinky, who is walking his niece to the school bus. Pinky discloses the plan in order to save his niece. Bergman and his crew arrive at Joe's sail boat along with Jimmy and Fran, where they hold Joe at gunpoint, demanding to know: "Where's the gold?"

They notice that the boat railings are golden. Fran leaves with Jimmy, pleading with Bergman to give Joe some money and let him go. Bergman checks the railings, which turn out to be painted. Bergman counts to three, preparing to shoot Joe, when a hidden Bobby opens fire. Bergman's men are killed and Bergman is wounded. He asks Joe, "Don't you want to hear my last words?" Joe replies, "I just did," and shoots him.

Bobby gives Joe the address to which he should send his share. Joe waits to meet Fran with a new truck filled with black-painted rods. Fran shows up with Jimmy. 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."

Joe gets into an older truck to leave. A black bar in the truck scrapes the garage door, revealing gold underneath. Joe lifts a tarp in the truck bed, revealing the gold rods concealed under it. He covers the rods with the tarpaulin and drives away.

Cast

• Gene Hackman as Joe Moore
• Danny DeVito as Mickey Bergman
• Delroy Lindo as Bobby Blane
• Rebecca Pidgeon as Fran
• Sam Rockwell as Jimmy Silk
• Ricky Jay as Pinky

Release

Critical reception

According to Rotten Tomatoes, critical reaction for Heist was mixed to positive, with an overall 65% approval rating. 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." On Metacritic, the film received a metascore of 66/100 based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert said "Heist is the kind of caper movie that was made before special effects replaced wit, construction and intelligence. This movie is made out of fresh ingredients, not cake mix. Despite the twists of its plot, it is about its characters." He went on to praise Mamet's trademark verbal constructions, his restrained approach to on-screen gunplay, and the care that he 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 States and Canada. In total it had a worldwide gross of $28,510,652, significantly lower than the film's production budget of $39 million.

Home video

The film generated more than $72 million in home video rentals in the United States (significantly higher than the film's box office gross).

External links

• Heist at IMDb
• Heist at Rotten Tomatoes
• Heist at Box Office Mojo