The Heat Edition
On character development, details, and Michael Mann
Colin here. The cult heist film Heat was a mid-range performer at the box office when it came out in 1995, grossing around $70 million. It also failed to receive any major award nominations. But the movie has taken on a life of its own since then, with hyper-devoted fans dwelling on literally every detail of Michael Mann’s nearly 3-hour epic. A podcast, One Heat Minute, obsessively details every minute of the film, getting to the molecular level of the acting, the costume design, and the cinematography. It is far more than I can cover in a WITI, but the higher order conclusion is one of obsessive, painful detail that creates an overall quality and depth.
The movie is filled with such painstaking research and rehearsal that even after seeing it 20+ times, I notice something new on every watch..
Den of Geek scratches the surface a bit:
When planning Heat, Mann’s meticulous attention to detail bordered on the obsessive. As well as drawing on Chuck Adamson’s memories of tracking down Neil McCauley in the ’60s, Mann used countless sources in order to achieve the psychological truth he was looking for. Former criminal turned actor and writer Eddie Bunker was hired as a technical consultant; his book No Beast So Fierce was required reading for Mann’s cast, and Voight’s character Nate was based on Bunker.
Former SAS soldier Andy McNab was brought in to give the actors weapons training, while Mann even spent several weeks riding around with Los Angeles cop Tom Elfmont, answering calls in a squad car. “We always had two guns,” Elfmont said of these patrols with Mann. “Sometimes, I would hand him a gun, because he almost became like a partner…”
Meanwhile, Tom Sizemore interviewed bank robbers in prison. Ashley Judd interviewed their wives. The actors were sent to an LA restaurant to eat and drink with cops and criminals. They were taken to a bank in disguise to case the joint, just like thieves.
“We cased the entire joint,” Sizemore remembered. “I went and got a loan application, just to figure out what was going on in this bank. It was a trip, how much knowledge we got. And they didn’t even know what was going on…”
On the McNab point, professional soldiers point to the exact tactical movements of the robbers, even praising the Kilmer reload on the fly as pitch perfect.
Why is this interesting?
Earlier this month, Mann released a novel, Heat 2. And while it would be hard to make it a film given the age of the original cast, it is an interesting prequel/sequel approach that adds even more depth and history to the story. One surmises that Mann wrote detailed background for each character in preparation for the film, and these play out in the 450-page book. In a recent interview with CBS Sunday morning, Mann said that the movie is “but a sliver” of the entire Heat universe.
Sure, the novel can often be read as pulpy and over the top at times. But it certainly adds depth to iconic characters, and will make another watching of the original even more pleasurable. (CJN)
—
WITI x McKinsey:
An ongoing partnership where we highlight interesting McKinsey research, writing, and data.
Author Talks: Don’t skip the ‘soft stuff’. No more Ping-Pong breaks or office happy hours? No matter. Melissa Daimler shares how workplace culture can still thrive without an office. Read here.
—
Thanks for reading,
Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)
—
Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).