Where's the payoff?

>> Despite the names, Heist lacks the wallop it should have

by MATTHEW HAYS

Behold the list of luminaries gracing the Heist posters and ads: David Mamet, playwright extraordinaire-cum-screenwriter and filmmaker, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo and Gene Hackman, undoubtedly one of the greatest living American screen actors.

It's a pity to report, then, that Heist--though endowed with some good suspense sequences--lacks the overall effect a film this talent-loaded should have. Hackman plays a pro thief who's now desperate to get out of the game, but one of his chief clients, a sleazebag played with relish by DeVito, won't let him out without delivering on one final hit.

If it's sounding familiar so far, that's because it is, coming on the heels of the other name-loaded heist movie The Score. In that film, De Niro begs for a graceful exit after one final gig, desperate to leave the crime world behind. And again, this film features a plot that's rife with who's-fucking-over-whom twists. Does Hackman have the upper hand, or is DeVito really winning this chess match? Who can Hackman ultimately trust? And who can De Niro rely on? (Oh, sorry, I got confused--that's the other movie). Certainly, Mamet is a better director than Frank Oz, but the films' narrative similarities are unfortunate and don't help make this feel any more fresh. (Both films, coincidentally, were shot in the Montreal area.)

If the movie itself doesn't score a perfect heist, the pleasures involved with it come virtually entirely from watching Hackman himself. In working with the rest of the cast, you can feel his generosity as an actor. Hackman is so wonderful precisely because he often feels like an American everyman while at the same time delivering such performances full of nuance and detail.

Thus a sense of sorrow hangs over the film, too. Heist is by no means a disaster, don't get me wrong. But Hackman is so good, he and the cast effectively show up the other elements of the film. It left me longing for The Conversation, The French Connection or Night Moves. Hackman's no has-been; he's gotten better with age. It's the movies that haven't kept up with him. :

Heist opens Friday, Nov. 9