JCC Who Stole The Scene? Heat: Pacino vs De Niro

For me De Niro's quiet confidence helps Pacino tone down his bombast. They're both playing off each other, and it's fantastic, but it's De NIro driving the tone. I give him this round.

 

The ketchup bottle.

 

The scene is still in the film so I have to conclude it wasn't stolen at all. Unless they reshot it I guess; then it would be quite the mystery.

 

If the question has to be raised, can it be argued that either actor stole this scene?

 

SHE GOT A... GREAT ASS!

 

I think Pacino's performance in Heat is kind of underrated in that the hammier moments are intentionally meant to come across as ridiculous. It's the character putting on a persona.

 

That sequence that sets up the coffee scene is probably one of my favourites.

New Dawn Fades kicks in as Hanna is flown across LA at night to then pursue McCauley.

It's brilliant.

 

Alex Colville.

Nevermind. That was a different scene. And it was stolen from him.

 

>

 

Back in 1989, Mann essentially took a stripped down version of the script for Heat and shot it as a made-for-TV film called L.A. Takedown with Alex McArthur and Scott Plank in the lead roles and Xander Berkeley as Waingro. It's nowhere near as good as Heat, and not that good in general, but it is fascinating when viewed as a dress rehearsal, as Mann would later call it.

Here's it's version of the coffee shop scene:



And here's the bank robbery/shootout from both as a point of comparison:



(Some NSFW language in this one)

 

Lil trivia. It is known that the conflict between these two was based on real life. And apparently had coffee together and had a talk something like this. Neil, though I don't know his real name off hand, did not have an epic film ending. His group robbed a small store and were chased down and he got shot on someone's front lawn.

 

And apparently Al's commitment to that role was deep:

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/AJzoElFmIc0