Nathan Hughes his name was David Mamet..stimulating the natural flow of saliva in my mouth..firstly and foremost; this is not an attack on Mamet himself but more so a indication that people overextend sometimes in life. I felt this was an overextension of Mamet's abilities as a director and as a piece of writing; it felt rushed. I wont go into how and what the movie is about because the name alludes to it but I will say personally I wouldn't waste my time. I will point out several problems I encountered to support my opinion. the plot had more holes than fishnet tights, characters had zero depth, it felt to me that the 'job' had about as much risk as stealing a pen at work. positives would be the casting and the film's length - any longer and I would have given it the boot.it's worth noting that I don't usually review films because I wouldn't contribute in any meaningful way and I normally don't read reviews because the medium of film is completely subjective however if you encounter my 'review'; don't take my word for it because what movie have I directed/written?.. I have however watched many films and I am qualified to say this film is, as my best friend would say when he sees a unpleasing woman - a stinker. this movie also proves something of a theory of mine. Mamet wasn't God but a Man after all.go watch House Of Games instead.to finish with quoting the great Mamet - "You can't bluff someone who's not paying attention"

blanche-2 You'll lose count at all the twists in David Mamet's "Heist," starring Gene Hackman, Rebecca Pigeon, and Danny DeVito.One distraction here is that when I first saw Hackman and Pigeon, I thought Pigeon was Hackman's grandfather. Then I found out she was his wife. There's only a 35-year difference.Gene Hackman plays the leader of a gang robs jewels and fences them with Mickey (Danny DeVito). Mickey stiffs the gang on their latest heist in order to get them to steal a shipment of Swiss gold. As an added negative, he wants his nephew (Sam Rockwell) to go along with them.The crimes themselves are clever, but there are so many twists in this story -- and you have no idea what's a real circumstance and what's a machination by the Hackman character and just seems like it's happening, but isn't. And you won't know at the end of the movie, either.The performances are fine, except I didn't think Rebecca Pigeon registered much. I don't think it was that good a role. Danny DeVito probably had the best one as the mean as dirt fence.I loved House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner; this one doesn't come up to either one of those.

jessegehrig Forgettable. Talking tough. Another reviewer felt that writer/director David Mamet was 'trying too hard'--I feel that's being overly generous. The movie is silly. The characters are all so fanciful and pretentious yet are supposed to be gritty seasoned criminals. Mamet wrote and directed a farcical melodrama, the only thing missing was the music of a pipe organ accompanying each scene. It ends up being a lot of work to watch this movie because all the characters are so fake and the plot is so overwrought. Film Noir works best when done simply, just stark contrasts repeated until credits roll. Mamet focuses too much on words and the interplay between actors, all to the detriment of the set, the lighting, the editing and the overall tone of the movie. Its not a play, its a movie, don't film it as a play.

Townley Thomerson One of the best one-liners was "We're going to storm the dust cabinet just like smoke fills a balloon on the sun." This kind of non sequitur dialogue is very difficult to write, but when it's delivered with a static expression it really pushes the envelope to the next level and beyond. Another great quip is delivered by Mamet himself during his cameo in the "Get KFC for the crew" scene (deleted scene). He says, "Man, life as a humble chicken soda salesman is literally rotoscoped security camera footage of a banjo backwater baptismal in black and white." Brilliant.