This is Michael Mann, so it will be nicely done, at least for looks. Good enough dramas. And a shitload of actors that you will recognize left and right. Sheeit, Jeremy Piven even gets thrown into the mix. But Henry Rollins and Tone Loc are da Bom here, yo! Haha, yeah, that’s kinda fuckin crazy. Otherwise, it’s cops and robbers. But stylistically done.
Professional criminals. The cops that chase them. Dramas. Actions. But more dramas. Just don’t piss off De Niro, or else you get the “Angry Vag” treatment! What is that? Get him mad and find out yourself! Otherwise he does some good schemings and maneuverings with his partners in crime, and Pacino tries to figure it out while juggling yet another shitty marriage. That part’s a bit of a bore, quite frankly. Coulda probably cut most of that out, but some script monkey thought it was good so there it is.
I don’t mind a good crime drama, but there is a bit too heavy of drama-to-crime ratio here. Character building is appreciated, but here it’s still the same Mann, A lotta style with minimal substance. It’s not bad, it does ok exploring many of the character’s flaws too. There is some good interaction between DeNiro and Pacino showing they are two sides of the same coin. But the characters still don’t quite connect? There are few rules to stick to while making a movie. 1) Never go Full Retard 2) Always add at least a little bit of humor no matter how bleak a drama. This broke rule #2. You’d think Mann would have nailed it seeing as it’s the second time he did the story, first being as a failed 1989 pilot for NBC which was edited to a stand-alone TV film called L.A. Takedown. Huh! This definitely looks great, though.
