The second time is when he gets the call about Waingro's whereabouts. As he drives through a white tunnel, we see through De Niro's excellent acting another decision making process. Without any dialogue, in less than thirty seconds, he breaks his own rule and takes a turn. This thirst for revenge eventually leads to his death. When he breaks his rule, he carries the consequences, and even though Vincent put three bullets in him, Neil was dying the moment he ventured off his philosophy of life. The third and last "30 seconds" scene comes after he kills Waingro. He walks to Eady when suddenly his eyes are fixed on those of Vincent running against the panicking crowd. Same as the other two scenes, no dialogue is used, "Heat" features some of De Niro's best work. Like great silent actors facial expressions is all that is needed. He looks at Eady, then at Vincent and back at Eady. Thirty seconds later he lets go and runs to keep his girl out of the mess. This is probably De Niro's most romantic moment in film. He's back to his senses and follows his rule, but it's too late.
Robert De Niro manages to portray Nail McCauley with such intensity; we can't help but root for him. He's smart, successful, hard working, and always researches everything before planning ahead using a business-like approach with a clear head. In other words, he's everything a man aspires to be. In fact, Neil would have been successful at pretty much anything in any other line of work.
One scene is a testament to how good both Neil and Vincent are at what they do. Since the cops keep McCauley's crew under 24 hour surveillance, they follow them to an isolated area. Neil points to key escape routes of their supposed plan. After they leave, Vincent and his men stand at the same place trying to figure out what the thieves will go after. While McCauley takes pictures of Vincent on one of the surrounding roofs. The situation is reversed, as the man under the microscope becomes the observer. One aspect that is often overlooked is how Vincent responds. Yes, Neil is a mastermind, but so is Vincent. While the rest of the cops stand there clueless of the situation, Vincent finally gets it. "I mean - is this guy something, or is he something?" He laughs hysterically as he tells his men that they are being watched. The scene cuts to Neil taking pictures and smiling. Both men are enjoying the cat-and-mouse game.
Another smile curves Neil's face when his boss tells him this dedicated detective has taken a liking of him. "He thinks you're some kind of star. You do this sharp, you do that sharp.Look how sharp this guy is to figure that...the man is one of those guys out there prowling around all night, dedicated." Vincent is no different than Neil. The genius of Mann's literate screenplay is the developing chemistry between both main characters without the sharing of screen-time.
With most films the criminal and the cop is all there is to the opposing main characters. "Heat" isn't "most film". It's a film that takes its time to develop each and every character. The criminal and the cop are just labels, professions or the surface on multilayered individuals.
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