The real fun of the thing is the dialogue: terse, repetitive, rhythmical, idiomatic, eminently quotable. More than any excerpt can possibly show, certainly more than any competitive outburst of action, the edge-of-your-seat thrill of the dialogue is in the dazzling athleticism with which the conversational ball is kept in the air, batted back and forth, treated to trick spins and wicked spikes and diving saves, never permitted to touch the ground, never booted away in frustration or disgust.

Some snappy dialogue, although it also has a stagey quality, creating a somewhat "theatrical" effect which is compounded by the artificiality of the narrative. The presence of Gene Hackman certainly helps.

Although Heist is plagued by lame dialogue and a discordant script, it makes up for it with a generally good plotline and world-class performances by the cast.

David Mamet trying too hard

The setup here- master thief gets made during a job- never amounts to anything. In fact, there's no conflict with the law at all; the law is obviously too stupid to be relevant in Mamet's world. The conflict's with other thieves, so we get a bunch of people trying to rip each other off; it's honestly hard to care. The moral of the story: If ever your shady underworld boss sends you down to the docks with a dozen other goons to wax a couple old guys, just run. Gene Hackman is going to kill you.

"David Mamet's films regurgitate every clever quip he's collected on bar napkins throughout the years." - Ed Gonzalez