“GoodFellas” opens with this line, spoken by Ray Liotta as Henry Hill, a Bronx-born
hood who was mobbed up by age 14: “Ever since I can remember, I always wanted
to be a gangster.” Wow. This is Hill’s story, from rise to vast rule to ketchup
and egg noodles in the Midwest. De Niro is his mid-level mob boss. Joe Pesci
costars in an infamously profane and violent performance so shocking, it’s
bewildering to know the man he plays was far more dangerous. The film is
flawless, so amazing good and detailed (the food alone!), it’s a thrill to
behold for a 15th viewing. My words do not do it justice.
In
“Heat,” De Niro is a master criminal of a high-end gang (Val Kilmer and Tom
Sizemore co-headline his crew) being chased by an obsessive detective (Al
Pacino, also scraping bottom in “Righteous” and “88 Minutes”) in Los Angeles.
We also follow the cop’s home life as Mann’s three-hour epic film spreads far
and wide, almost too wide – an icky serial killer plot thread goes nowhere. The actions scenes are you-are-there-real and spectacular, including a long finale outside the Los Angeles airport that boomed in a theater.
De
Niro is the star of both, the ballast holding each film together, keeping the
madness, violence, crazy details, and other actors (Pacino goes “PACINO” a few
times) cemented and whole, but let it be known these worlds are the creation
of, respectively, Scorsese and Mann, both in unmatched top form. Know this:
“GoodFellas” was based on a true story, but “Heat” inspired a criminal duo to
pull off a daring bank robbery that eerily mimicked the mid-section scene here.
GoodFellas: A+ Heat: A
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