Pacino


It's unfortunate he felt the need to ham everything up, to an unrealistic degree where it even brings you out of the movie a bit. "Oh there's old Al, chewing - scratch that - completely devouring the scenery again."

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Agree. Despite the fact that his character was written as a cocaine addict (this tiny detail is used to defend Al’s acting in this film), at the day of the day his random shouting, screaming, wildly exaggerated expressions... all of it is just Al being hammy Al. OOH-AH!!! He’s loved for chewing the scenery, but man, he is so unnecessarily over-the-top in this film it becomes too much to bear. “GIMMIE ALL YA GOT!” and “GREAT ASS!”? Two of many Pacino moments in Heat that feel painfully out of place; it’s as if they were taken from one of Al’s comedic movies, so most of the time I’m unable to differentiate Vincent Hannah and, say, Big Boy. A very noticeable thing in these scenes, is the way Tone Loc & Hank Azaria respond to Al’s inexplicable outbursts. They appear utterly baffled, so much so it legitimately looks as if their reactions were brought on not by Vincent but by Al himself (fun fact: Azaria’s reaction WAS genuine).

So Vincent was doing coke and that is the reason he acted out of his mind throughout the entire film? Understood. Problem is, Al hams it up like only he can. To his credit maybe he intended to give a realistic portrayal, but he ultimately came off as gimmicky. Now there are several moments in the film where he’s much more subdued, e.g, in all the scenes he shares with De Niro and even Portmam. I certainly appreciate him when it looks like he’s making an effort. But all in all, his performance in this classic doesn’t get any better with every rewatch. Riveting film with an unforgettable showdown nonetheless.

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