Heist is a 2001 American heist film written and directed by David Mamet.
A career jewel thief (Gene Hackman) tries to get away from a life of crime after being caught on camera, but has to do a job before he can accomplish his goal.
The movie also stars Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell, and Ricky Jay.
It was released on November 9, 2001.
Not to be confused with the 2015 movie of the same title.
Heist provides examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Joe is going to spend the rest of his life on the run and never able to see his friends again, Pinky is dead and Fran was in cahoots with Jimmy, but Bergman is dead and Joe is rich.
- Caught on Tape: The plot starts when Joe Moore's face is captured on a security camera he wasn't expecting to be there.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Honestly it may as well have been titled Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Movie. Bergman and Jimmy and Fran have this so hard it borders on Stupid Evil. You've already screwed Joe out of his rightful share of the jewelry job that was pulled to force him to pull another job for you, why were you surprised when Joe and his team were ready for you to double cross them again?
- Counting to Three: Lampshaded by Bergman when he's threatening Joe:Bergman: I hate to do anything as dramatic as count to three...but one, two, three!
- Crime-Concealing Hobby: Joe Moore owning a boat-making company on the side supplies him with the tools necessary to melt down the gold from ingots into rods that he then places on a boat he was building in order to smuggle it or so all of the other thieves thought. Joe instead pulls a Kansas City Shuffle by painting them black and putting them on the back of a truck, then trying to leave on the boat (Bergman intercepts him, leading to a shootout and Bergman's death) and then trying to leave with a truck with similar-looking metal rods just in time for Jimmy and Fran to ambush him and take off with it, and thus no loot.
- Fakin' MacGuffin: After betraying the others and stealing the van that is supposed to contain the stolen gold, Jimmy finds out that the hidden compartments are filled with metal washers. Then a second time at the finale, when the gold rods on the boat are revealed to be more fakes, and then yet a THIRD TIME when the rods in the truck that Fran and Jimmy steal are ALSO fakes.
- No Honour Among Thieves: First, Bergman screws Joe out of his share of the jewelry heist. Then, after the gold heist, Jimmy betrays the others to steal the gold and Fran. Finally, Fran and Jimmy steal the truck with what they they think is the gold. Fortunately for him, Joe is Genre Savvy and is ready for every betrayal after the initial one by Bergman.
- One-Word Title: A title which also describes the film's genre, making it especially prosaic.
- Pocket Protector: A story along these lines are told near the end when veteran thief Bobby is sitting in a van with Jimmy before a heist.Bobby: Sometimes the adrenaline hits, it give you the shakes.
Jimmy: I'm alright.
Bobby: No, I'm just saying, sometimes adrenaline gives people the shakes, some other people mistake it for cowardice, maybe you want to pray about it.
Jimmy: I'm not a religious man.
Bobby: There's nothing wrong with prayer.
Jimmy: You think so?
Bobby: I'm in this firefight, this trooper, always carried a Bible next to his heart, we used to mock him. That Bible stopped a bullet.
Jimmy: No shit.
Bobby: Hand to God, that Bible stopped a bullet, would've ruined that fucker's heart. And had he had another Bible in front of his face, that man would be alive today. - Pre-Mortem One-Liner: One notable instance of this trope is this exchange:Bergman: (as he draws his dying breath) Don't you wanna hear my last words?
Joe Moore: I just did. (shoots him dead) - Russian Reversal: This particular gem:Jimmy: So, is he going to be cool?
Pinky: My motherfucker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him. - Staged Pedestrian Accident: Used as a distraction during a jewelry store robbery.
- Too Dumb to Live: After conning a dangerous and unstable criminal out of millions of dollars of gold, instead of immediately getting out of town, Pinky casually walks his niece to school the next day (the niece that they KNOW ABOUT because she was mentioned earlier in the movie). Unsurprisingly, this gets him grabbed up and killed by Bergman and his goons.
