By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * )
David Mamet movies - at least the ones he directs as well as writes - are an acquired taste. There is his famously terse dialogue, his intricate, who's-crossing-whom plots, and, of course, his wife - inevitably Mrs Mamet, Rebecca Pidgeon, ends up
with a big part.
So it is with Heist, a straight-to-video movie about (no, really) a veteran thief who just needs one last job on which he can retire. That's Gene Hackman, whose crew includes his young wife, played by Pidgeon as an unconvincing femme fatale.
He goes into business with Danny DeVito, his untrustworthy fence, on a job which involves a load of gold bullion.
It is fun initially watching Hackman as a master of deception, a wizened pro for whom everything is about the execution of the job first and the ill-gotten gains a distant second.
But as the plot twists upon itself and the characters prove once again, that yes, there is no honour among thieves, it starts to feel as if the robbery business isn't all that exciting.
Heist might sound brainier than the usual crime flick with its many staccato verbal exchanges, and the sleight of hand behind the big robbery. However, while going for the highbrow, this leaves the adrenalin gland unscathed. It's clever but bloodless and contains one of the worst shoot-out scenes of all time on the way to a let-down ending.
Rental video, DVD: Out now
* DVD features: trailer
