I have been hearing about this movie for years and kept telling myself to see it ffs, and today I did. Seeing who was cast during the opening credits, I knew I was in for a treat. I was lucky that I had never had the plot spoiled for me and I knew absolutely nothing about what was coming.
Regarding the cast, let me mention an actress I have been a fan of since her turn on FX, and she is also the mother-in-law of a friend, Diane Venora. She played her part with such a wide spectrum of emotions that I was completely drawn into her empathy, anger, aloofness, and deep sorrow. It tore me up, actually. She was the perfect match for Pacino's manic character.
Speaking of Pacino, his performance was one for the books. He was a dude on the razor's edge of completely losing it and uses his job as a form of a security blanket. It's his happy place which unfortunately makes any semblance of a normal life impossible.
Now lets talk about De Niro's performance. In a word: Perfect. It's sad in today's world, people judge an actor on their political beliefs rather than how they perform their craft. De Niro's beliefs are polar opposite from mine, but I could not care less. He was fantastic as the professional thief who is likeable, deadly, and when all is said and done, a scourge of society. Rooting for him is wrong, but you can't help to just a little.
The movie was filled with great performances particularly from Val Kilmer, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, and damn, Kevin Gage's evilly maniacal portrayal was downright demented. The entire cast was top notch. Kudos to the casting director.
Watch this movie for the intense ride of hovering between good and evil. It does not disappoint.
