Heat’s iconic diner meeting between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s characters was a special moment for the two actors. Pacino and De Niro rose to prominence around the same time during the early ’70s. De Niro became a star thanks to his work in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver and would go on to deliver incredible work in everything from Once Upon A Time In America to Jackie Brown. Pacino’s breakout was The Godfather, and he has amassed an extraordinary run of classic performances from Serpico to Scarface and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Michael Mann’s movie Heat had been simmering for a long time, with the filmmaker first conceiving of the idea in the late ’70s. He even shot a prototype (of sorts) with TV movie L.A. Takedown, which adapted his Heat screenplay into a TV show pilot. Heat was weirdly snubbed for any major award, but it is now considered one of the best crime movies of all time. Heat cast Pacino and De Niro as cop Vincent Hanna and criminal Neil McCauley respectively, and featured career-best work from both. The diner meeting between the duo around Heat’s midway point marked an important milestone for the actors too.
Heat’s Diner Scene Was The First Time De Niro And Pacino Appeared Together
The Godfather Part II – just like the upcoming Heat 2 – faced an impossible recasting when the filmmakers had to cast an actor to play young Vito Corleone. Following Marlon Brando in one of his most legendary roles is a challenge most would have been terrified by; thankfully, young De Niro stepped up and cemented his rising star status. While he and Pacino both starred in Godfather Part II, they didn’t share any scenes due to the movie’s prequel/sequel structure; this made their Heat diner scene the first time they appeared together onscreen.
Well, technically their first scene is the one directly proceeding Heat’s diner talk, where Hanna pulls over McCauley’s car to invite him for a cup of coffee. However, the diner sequence is the one that everybody remembers, and with good reason. It finally brought two of the best actors of all time together, and Mann stood back to let them work their magic. Outside of Heat’s bank heist setpiece, the diner scene is the most electrifying moment in the film thanks to their work.
The themes of Heat include duality, causality and fate and while Hanna is a cop and McCauley is a criminal, they’re both essentially the same in outlook and the need for a certain type of rush. For Hanna, it’s chasing and bringing down criminals like McCauley, and for the latter, it’s the disciple and skill required to pull off a job expertly. The only real difference between them is what Hanna does is legal, and while McCauley is a fervent believer in cause and effect, ironically it’s breaking his own code during the final act that results in his death. Heat’s diner scene underscores all these themes beautifully.
Heat Was The First Of Many Great De Niro & Pacino Moments
Heat
After Heat, Pacino and De Niro would go on to work together in two more movies. The first was 2008’s tepid thriller Righteous Kill, which sold itself on the fact the pair would be working together throughout the film, unlike their handful of scenes in Heat. Unfortunately, seeing the two together is the sole reason to even glance at Righteous Kill, which runs through all the cop movie clichés without adding anything fresh. That said, the finale allows Pacino to get hammy in a way only he’s capable of putting off.
In 2019, they reunited again for a more worthy Heat follow-up in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. This cast De Niro as a mafia hitman and bodyguard to Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa. The film gives the two plenty of great scenes together, but two particularly stand out. The first is when De Niro’s Frank tries to warn Hoffa of the mafia’s growing displeasure with him and that he will be targeted, but despite Frank’s concern, Hoffa believes they wouldn’t dare. The second is the dread-inducing assassination itself, where Frank takes Hoffa – who believes he’s safe with his “friend” – to an isolated house and coldly executes him when his back is turned.
Pacino & De Niro’s First Movie Meeting Was Worth The Wait
Pairing Pacino and De Niro together felt so obvious it’s shocking it hadn’t happened before Heat. After around two decades of circling one another, De Niro and Pacino’s diner scene alone proved it was worth the wait. The two bring out the best in each other and despite being friends in real life, they consciously avoided interacting while Heat was filming until the diner scene itself. The sequence is a masterclass in screen acting, to the point it’s easy to forget it’s just two men sitting at a table talking.
