Heat (1995)

Cop tries to catch criminal gang causing havoc in Los Angeles. Al Pacino is the cop. Robert De Niro leads the gang. 

Heat is a complex film that introduces multiple threads. At its worst it’s in danger of becoming an episode of Miami Vice or even The A-Team. At its best, it’s like a cut-price Scorsese imitation, albeit without the elegance and sophistication. The script is reasonable enough, but there are casting problems. Val Kilmer is jarringly woeful as one of the gang members. Furthermore, the gang guys have no chemistry whatsoever. Even De Niro seems to be struggling a little with the material. Plus, some of the music is intrusive. And the threads about the stand-in getaway driver and Natalie Portman as a troubled teen could both have been removed in the interests of tightening up the narrative.

On the plus side – and it's a big plus – Pacino rises to the challenge of his role and is every bit as cool as usual. The scenes featuring him and his wife (Diane Venora) are convincing, and there’s a depth to him that the other characters lack.

The Doors (1991)

I like The Doors (the group) and have always been curious about how they would be portrayed on film. Unfortunately, Oliver Stone’s “impressionistic” biopic of Jim Morrison (which shouldn’t really be called The Doors at all) is a bit of a disaster. 

Val Kilmer emulates Morrison’s bodily movements fairly well, and radiates a certain “rock star” charisma. I like Meg Ryan as his girlfriend, too, and she may be the best thing in the film. But in terms of a script, neither of these actors have anything to get their teeth into. There’s very little dialogue in general, and there’s way too much Doors music crammed into every scene. Even the courtroom moment, which was potentially an interesting change of pace and tone, is drowned out by more Doors on the soundtrack. The result is a complete lack of dramatic tension. 

I don’t mind it being deeply pretentious – what’s wrong with being pretentious? (as Brian Eno asked) – but I do mind it being lazy, clichéd filmmaking. The Doors offers an almost childish version of “the 1960s”. A scene featuring Andy Warhol and Nico is cartoonishly shoddy. Plus, there’s little sense of the group’s career arc. 

Ultimately, Oliver Stone seems to be too in love with Jim Morrison and his myth to even attempt to present a rounded portrait of him.