Heat - Greatest Ever Screenwriting Oscar Snub?

1995 was an all time great year for Hollywood, packed with hit after hit. No one envied the Academy judges in early 1996 as they narrowed the Best Original Screenplay race to five contenders: The Usual Suspects, Braveheart, Mighty Aphrodite, Toy Story, and Nixon… meaning Michael Mann’s masterpiece Heat was left out in the cold. Surely not, right? All of the above are at the very least strong screenplays, but can any of the nominations hold a candle to Heat? 

Hindsight is a gift, and I could entertain the assertion that Toy Story had a greater overall impact on the industry, but from a pure storytelling standpoint - there can only be one winner. Today, we’ll surgically dissect Heat with the precision it deserves and explore what makes it exceptional.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that Mann doesn’t center Heat on a single protagonist. Instead, we follow two perspectives - professional thief Neil McCauley and LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna. This dual narrative pulls us between opposing viewpoints, creating a compelling tug-of-war for the audience’s allegiance and maintaining a quicksilver pace even in this 157 page epic. 

OPENING IMAGE

Effective script introductions typically fall into two categories. The first presents a microcosm of the story, distilling its essence into a moment that foreshadows what’s to come. The second - used by Mann here - states the theme outright, giving the reader a clear framework for the unfolding events.

In this lengthy introduction, Mann establishes Neil as a man who lives by a code - there’s nothing he couldn’t walk from in 30 seconds flat. This is the heart and narrative throughline that drives the entire story. This is subtle, non-communicable information, but it’s apparent in De Niro’s performance and provides key context.

Neil enters a hospital, steals an ambulance, and disappears. Instantly, we see his confidence, precision, and preparedness. Mann makes it clear he will not hold our hand in making moral judgements. The use of We don’t know suggests that already - the character is making his own decisions. He is not a puppet for Mann to use to tell a story, Mann is just following along. 

SET UP

Next, we meet Chris, Neil’s old cellmate, buying hardware supplies. Mann packs in details about his appearance, past, and demeanor, making it clear Chris is a major player. We’re told he’s a loyal companion but a turbulent personal life renders him vulnerable. 

Subsequently, we encounter Cerrito, another ex-con, and it's clear that this is the beginning of a plan taking shape. These men don’t just share a troubled past, they are actively seeking a better tomorrow. There's an undeniable sense of momentum, as their plans start falling into place.

We then shift to Vincent Hanna, an LAPD Lieutenant. His home life is very efficiently established; he is in a strained relationship with his third wife Justine. They make passionate love, but the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Work will always come first for Hanna, something he has always made clear. Justine’s troubled step-daughter, Lauren, awaits collection by her father, who’s infamous for standing her up. 

Next on the roll call is Waingro, a wildcard recruit to Neil’s gang. He’s collected by Cerrito in a garbage truck, where he asks a few too many questions. We get the sense that if there is to be a weak link in this plan, it’s him. 

The plan kicks off: Neil’s masked crew targets an armored vehicle, using the garbage truck to ram it and the ambulance for a quick getaway. We see Neil’s precision - he’s calculated the police response time to the second: two minutes and fifty seconds. Everything going to plan, he’ll walk away with $1.6 million in bearer bonds.

Neil has prepared the perfect execution of a surgical theft. Until…

INCITING INCIDENT

Out of nowhere, Waingro shoots an unarmed security guard in the head. Chaos erupts as shots fly in all directions, forcing the crew to clean up and dispose of witnesses. What started as a heist has turned into a massacre. They escape as the cops arrive, ditch their disguises, and blow up the ambulance.

DEBATE

Neil’s fence, Nate, makes his money by selling bonds back to the original owners. He fronts $40,000 to Neil, with the rest coming in a few days. Nate identifies the bonds as belonging to Malibu Securities, run by John van Zant, and hopes to get a good deal from them. He also directs Neil to Cezar Kelso, who’s cooking up a big heist. 

Hanna arrives at the crime scene, analyzing every detail, seething that this happened in his city. He assesses the crew’s performance, exhibiting that he’s good at what he does. There’s little by way of clues - a janitor overheard some shouted instructions, including the nickname ‘Slick.’ All Hanna has are three bodies, a burnt ambulance, and a sick feeling in his gut. His biggest worry is that this crew is local - if they are, this will happen again.

The gang meet at a diner under the pretence of handing Waingro his share. They really intend to kill him, but when they’re momentarily distracted, Waingro escapes. 

Chris returns to his wife, Charlene, revealing his addictive personality. She’s unimpressed when he only has $8,000 from the heist, assuming he gambled away the rest. When she threatens to leave with their son, Dominick, he becomes aggressive.

Unlike in the film, Neil first meets love interest Eady at the bookstore where she works, not at a bar. He’s researching engineering and is caught off guard by their mutual attraction. For a man who plans everything, he didn’t foresee this spark. In the screenplay, Eady is Asian and specializes in fine art.

Hanna returns home, frustrated that the explosives used at the crime scene can’t be traced - another dead end. He discovers that Lauren’s father stood her up again, upsetting Lauren. Justine is equally displeased that Hanna missed dinner. 

Like all good debate sections, the characters are faced with choices. Mann invites the reader to be part of this decision making - asking who are we rooting for? It’s hard to say which character we’re meant to follow more closely. Hanna’s goal is clear: capture the thieves. Neil’s is more ambiguous; he wants to explore a potential romance with Eady while also handling the loose end Waingro left behind. 

The answer to the protagonist question becomes clearer when you read through the lens of time as a constant theme. From the heist’s precise countdown to Lauren’s dad being late, and the wait for the bonds to sell - time is key. Hanna’s perspective makes time more urgent; unlike Neil, he’s not calculating, he’s catching up. At this point, he’s the one we’re meant to root for - but what makes it brilliant is the fact that you can come to your own conclusion.

It’s easy for the pages between the inciting incident and the break into two to feel like a buffer before the story really begins, but Mann makes us active in the story and it’s undeniably engaging. 

BREAK INTO TWO

Against his better judgment, Neil gives in to his curiosity and spends the night with Eady. She shares a description of loneliness that Neil can’t help but relate to.

Before leaving in the morning, Neil erases any trace of his presence - wiping his fingerprints from the glass and vanishing without a word. This is the closest he comes to emotional intimacy, though he craves more.This refusal of the call is the weakness in his armor that will soon be explored and exploited.

FUN AND GAMES

As directed, Neil meets Cezar Kelso, who offers him a job said to be worth $8.2m - but requires a deposit to ‘buy in’. Hesitant at first, Neil is convinced to commit, as long as he can secure the cash upfront. While they negotiate percentages, Nate takes a call from Van Zant - agreeing the exchange of bonds for cash. Van Zant has his own plans to kill anyone who thinks they can steal from him. 

Neil finds Chris sleeping in his empty apartment and tells Charlene he’s safe. He confronts Chris: why is she leaving you? Chris denies there’s anyone else in her life.

But Charlene does have someone else. Tired of Chris’ failings, she’s been sleeping with a man named Marciano. While arranging a meeting with Van Zant, Neil spots the couple and confronts Charlene.

He insists Charlene give Chris one final chance, but if he messes up, she can take Dominick and walk away. It raises the question: does Neil care about Chris’ wellbeing, or is this just a tactic to keep his team focused and resilient?

Hanna visits a club to meet informants Albert and Raoul. They offer info on their gang rivals, expecting Hanna to take out the opposition. Just when it seems like a dead end, Hanna stumbles upon his first clue.

Hanna is pointed to Cerrito, one of Neil’s trusted men, the simple pet name tipping him off. He orders around-the-clock surveillance on him.  This is his lead and he’s a dog with a bone. 

Hanna is called to a crime scene, where an underage prostitute has been killed and deposited outside a motel. He seethes with anger, recognizing a pattern of violence and unable to shake the feeling that this girl was barely older than his stepdaughter.

Neil goes to collect the cash from Van Zant’s driver, who has a man hidden in the back of his truck, breaking the rules of their deal. Chris spots the attacker and stops the attempt on Neil’s life. All of Van Zant’s men are killed. Neil calls Van Zant and, in a power play, tells him to keep the money. He warns Van Zant he’s a dead man walking and that he’ll collect the cash himself. By doing this, Neil becomes emotionally invested, making his ‘walk away in 30 seconds’ rule harder to follow and opening the door to further emotionally prompted decisions.

The entire crew, along with their wives and children, enjoy an anniversary dinner. The men discuss their next move in the restroom - planning a ‘small’ heist to raise the money for Kelso’s job, then taking out Van Zant. Hanna and his team, tracking Cerrito, try to figure out who’s who at the gathering. He watches closely, knowing he’ll be ready the next time they make a score.

Neil - surrounded by lovers and the successfully reunited Chris and Charlene - has Eady on his mind. Visiting her, he asks her to run away to New Zealand with him. Once again, he exhibits a crack in his stoic facade, forming commitments that put him at risk. 

Waingro, alive and well, kills a black prostitute he claims is lying to him. We ascertain he’s behind this string of murders. He goes out drinking, where a bartender sets him up with potential employers, eager to get back in the game - perhaps money is running low.

Hanna and his team track Cerrito to a precious metal depository, believing it’s the next target. SWAT is on standby. While Neil is flawless in vetting his men, Hanna is not - one of his agents makes a noise, alerting Neil to the surveillance and causing him to abort the heist. Rather than arrest them for breaking and entering, which would get them six months, Hanna holds out to catch them for stealing millions, hoping to lock them away for much longer.

Hanna leverages Marciano and Charlene in an attempt to get to Chris. Meanwhile, the gang assesses what went wrong with the heist, who tipped off the LAPD, and their next move. They don’t have enough cash for the Kelso job. Cerrito reveals his car was bugged, so they should assume they’re under constant surveillance. Neil agrees to cash in his T-bonds for the deposit, and they all agree to take the job, ‘staking out’ the oil fields.

Hanna and his team surveil the area, wondering what’s being stolen. Hanna has an epiphany: the LAPD is the target. They’ve been lured out there to be photographed. Neil brings the photos to Nate, who identifies Hanna as the reason for all the ‘extra heat.’ He warns Neil to skip the bank heist, but Neil’s heart is already elsewhere - on a one-way flight to Auckland.

Waingro visits Van Zant, offering to give up Neil’s crew. At home, Hanna’s relationship with Justine grows increasingly fractious, adding to his frustration with the lack of progress, both personally and professionally. This pushes him to make his next move.

MIDPOINT

When teaching how to write a great midpoint, Heat is often exhibit number one. It’s a masterclass - an open and frank, dialogue-driven scene. It advances the story, reverses the cat-and-mouse game, reinforces the theme, and distills the characters to their core.

Hanna pulls Neil over and suggests they grab coffee. They chat candidly, face-to-face. They already know most things about each other, but some things only conversation can reveal. The busy, public environment prevents anyone from using any weapon but their words. 

The pair share a begrudging respect - they have many of the same issues: detachment, obsession, constantly looking over their shoulders. But their paths are straight lines destined to intersect, and only one can succeed. Make no mistake - either will kill the other if they get in the way. 

BAD TO WORSE

Things take a dive for Hanna when he learns that all of Neil’s crew shed their surveillance.

Neil reunites with his crew for the bank heist. Towner, their driver, pulls out claiming his wife is in hospital with appendicitis, leaving them short a man. But Neil knows Breedan, an ex-con working at the local diner. Mistreated by his boss, he quickly agrees to join the crew.

We then learn that Towner was forced to abort the heist by Waingro, who is holding his wife hostage.

The heist is surprisingly direct, lacking the usual tact Neil is known for. They storm the bank, alarms disabled, and hold up the tellers. It should be simple, but Waingro has called in an anonymous tip. The crew begins leaving the bank, one by one, as the LAPD rush in, ready to take out Breedan’s getaway car once everyone’s inside. As Neil and Chris approach the car...

Chris is immediately deadweight, all his effort directed into not bleeding out. Several of Hanna’s men are killed in the crossfire, making this all the more personal. As Breedan attempts to make a getaway, his car riddled with bullets, he’s shot through the head, crashing and extending the shootout.

Hanna is desperate to avoid civilian casualties, while Neil has no such qualms, shooting through bystanders to fend off pursuing cops. He’s now focused only on survival and saving Chris, everything else secondary.

Unable to get a clear shot, Hanna lets Neil escape and prioritizes Cerrito, who takes a little girl hostage. He lines up his shot, knowing the smallest mistake could cost an innocent life.

Cerrito is killed, leaving only Neil and Chris alive. Neil takes Chris to Dr. Bob, a vet who patches up criminals for cash. Once again, Neil’s emotions override his judgment - things went south with the heat, and he refuses to walk away from his loyal companion. 

Chris worries about Charlene’s safety, but Neil’s focus is on whether their getaway plan has been compromised. They discover Towner is the rat.

Wives and girlfriends learn of their partners’ deaths. Charlene calls Marciano, hoping for a way out of this mess. Neil visits a dying Towner and finds out Waingro is responsible.

As Act Two nears its end, Neil has done nearly everything right, but one ‘wrong thing’ - his new emotional connections - has cost the lives of his colleagues. While Hanna has had to adapt to keep up with his nemesis, Neil has changed his tactics, allowing Hanna to close the gap between them. This sets up a thrilling finale, where we’re invested in both men. Mann ramps up the tension with various ticking clocks and narrow time windows, ensuring we’re rushing toward the conclusion.

BREAK INTO THREE

Neil calls Nate, who has mapped out their escape route. No longer trusting the original plan, Neil demands a new one. Nate, now charging much more, struggles to help Neil disappear with the crew all over the media. Neil then calls Eady, instructing her to be ready to leave the country at a moment’s notice.

He finds and kills Van Zant, an incidental obstacle on his path to finding Waingro. 

FINALE

Marciano forces Charlene into witness protection against her will. Cop Farina gives her an ultimatum: testify against Chris or face charges as an accessory, leaving their son orphaned.

Hanna sets a trap for Neil, identifying his emotional responses and anticipating his desire to wrap up the Waingro affair before escaping. Meanwhile, Neil meets Eady, who, after discovering his ruthlessness, decides she wants no part in his life.

She feels trapped, and suddenly Neil’s safe haven, his fallback, is no longer reliable. Hanna’s situation isn’t dissimilar - he returns home to find Justine cheating on him with a stranger. He storms out. Both men have effectively lost their love interests in just a few pages - though Hanna is experiencing an ‘all is lost’ moment while Neil is at his ‘false victory’ stage. 

Nate hands over the escape documents to Neil, and Chris shares a heartfelt goodbye. Nate mentions Waingro’s possible escape under the alias Jamieson, but Neil dismisses it, burdened by his own conscience.

Charlene has the opportunity to throw Chris under the bus, but when he shows up to see her, she claims it wasn’t him, allowing him to escape. 

Hanna accepts that Neil won’t spring the trap and accepts that his adversary has slipped away. His frustration boils over, and he's ready to walk away from it all. 

Just when things seem at their bleakest, Mann pushes Hanna further, taking him one step beyond rock bottom. Unlike the film, where Hanna discovers his daughter’s suicide attempt, the screenplay has her in the midst of a psychotic episode - likely triggered by her father’s absence, compounded by the rift between her mother and stepfather. In both versions, she’s rushed to the hospital, where Hanna finds a regretful Justine, and he’s struck by how close Lauren came to becoming another tragic statistic.

Hanna reassures Justine that he’s not leaving, abandoning his previous assertions that work will always come first. Neil seems to be in the clear, with Eady in tow. Just when it appears everything might resolve, he takes a detour. Pulling up to the Hyatt Hotel, he asks Eady to wait outside while he takes care of an ‘errand.’ 

Neil, posing as hotel staff, secures the room number. Outside, Eady grows uneasy, sensing something is off. Neil notices a Beretta hidden behind the front desk, confirming the LAPD are in the building, but it doesn’t deter him. He disregards his own code, determined to finish what he started. Using a service elevator, he pulls a fire alarm to create a diversion.

A final conversation between Hanna and Justine, tinged with brutal honesty. He’s called by his colleagues about the disturbance at the Hyatt, but claims he’s unavailable. 

Neil kicks in Waingro’s door and executes him with two shots, no remorse. Eady sees the fire engines and squad cars pulling up and fears the worst - caught between frightened and relieved.

Hanna arrives at the scene by chopper, trapping Neil inside. Neil knows he’s been sprung when he spots Hanna watching the car. He makes a break for it, abandoning Eady. He makes it to the runway, still hoping to punch his ticket out of there. Hanna in hot pursuit. 

A tense shootout on the runway. Some of Mann’s greatest writing - it’s succinct, it’s breathless, and all of the build up makes this essential reading. Neil is mortally wounded.  

And there’s that same begrudging respect. 

CLOSING IMAGE

Hanna emerges victorious. The story concludes sharply and without fanfare. There is no pleasure in this victory, it’s exhaustive, unfeeling. If he was tired before, he’s falling apart now. There is nowhere for him to go - his story ends with the words The End. 

The loop is completed with the twin storylines of these men’s lives concluding. They share an understanding, these strangers at odds because of their internal codes. There’s a futility, a reflection, and even a question of commitment to their causes. 

Conclusion 

Not only did Heat elevate the crime genre to new heights, its legacy permeates throughout modern cinema. Never had a high art thriller seen the rampant success of Mann’s screenplay - paired with his meticulous casting, directing, and cinematography. This is the most high profile example I can think of that gives equal weight to the protagonist and antagonist, a process since utilized by great filmmakers of the 21st century like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve and franchises such as The Bourne Trilogy. Character driven screenplays of all genres eventually became the new norm as the plot-driven flashiness of the 90s faded. 

Mann’s attention to detail is abundantly clear in the writing, with real criminal psychology, authentic heists and police tactics, and complex character relationships. It’s a carefully crafted house of cards that’s unparalleled thirty years later. 

Heat should have been nominated for at least four Oscars, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography - and that’s before we talk about the electrifying performances. To come away with zero is… criminal. 

We award 5/5.