Comfort Films 70: Heat

For the second week of our Comfort Crime month, John and Georgia deep dive into the Los Angeles underworld with Michael Mann's 1995 epic cops and robbers movie, Heat.  This movie brings you so far into the symbiotic relationship between law enforcement and crooks that it's difficult to know what side you're on.  We discuss the real life story of Chicago detective Chuck Adamson, whose coffee break with career criminal Neil McCauley inspired Mann's film, the iconic first-ever onscreen scene between acting heavyweights Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, the many parallelisms between Hanna and McCauley, Michael Mann's collaboration with celebrated cinematographer Dante Spinotti (which began with Manhunter in 1986), the incredibly well-researched screenplay, the loneliness of existing outside regular society, and the rigorous training the actors went through to perform their roles.  This episode is more jam-packed than the 405 at rush hour, so flip on the blue flashing lights, hit the siren, and ride along with us!