Heist

An exhilaratingly tense caper thriller boasting an elaborate array of rapid-fire twists and turns, backed by the sharp, delicious cadence of David Mamet's dialogue, Heist follows a crack team of big score thieves through a pressure-cooker job. The double-crosses and manifold plot manipulations that accumulate in a domino effect are, in fact, so swift and shrewd that your brain will be far too stimulated to think about the significant loopholes until the movie's already over (the only drawback is that the convolutions are so fast and furious that after an hour they begin to lose their punch). Gene Hackman is subtly spectacular as a haggard but resilient career thief, with Rebecca Pidgeon (director Mamet's normally underwhelming wife) giving a surprisingly strong performance as Hackman's Machiavellian girlfriend, and Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell and Danny DeVito rounding out the talented den of thieves. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)