Heat (1995) is an interesting collection of dynamic moments and quotes. Still, few pierce as deeply with philosophical weight as when Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) says to Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro):“You know, for me, the action is the juice.”It may sound like a statement of bravado or greed at first glance, but it’s not. It’s something colder, purer. And when spoken by a self-aware criminal like Cheritto, the line extracts the film’s moral perspective into one heart-pounding thrill.Director Michael Mann’s Heat doesn’t center on who is a good guy and who is a bad guy; it simply stays focused on professionals who function through codes that are more rigid than the systems they aim to break. Every character, be it De Niro’s disciplined criminal, Neil McCauley, or Al Pacino’s obsessive, intense, and tormented cop, Vincent Hanna, moves in ways that diffuse the distinction between duty and addiction.When Cheritto says “action,” he means more than action. He means life itself. The life that is free from pretense and propelled by momentum.The Line: The Pulse of the Criminal LifeThe scene is of a crew meeting. Neil asks Cheritto if he is up for a new heist gig that involves heavy risk. Cheritto is quick to roll whichever way Neil suggests, but Neil stresses the “risk” aspect of the mission and asserts that Cheritto should think carefully before joining in. This is where Cheritto says that, for him, the action is the juice, and he joins the heist. When he says it...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 20 November