What do you say I buy you a cup of coffee?
“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.”
- Khalil Ghibran
There’s a flashpoint in everyone’s life: a moment of such magnitude that we see things with perfect clarity, and feel truly alive. However, after the glow of this moment recedes, necessity demands a return to normality.
What happens then, when we go back?
With the coffee shop scene being at the heart of Heat’s thematic identity, we will take an extended look at its meaning and use it to understand the above idea, and with it, gain insight into McCauley’s final, enigmatic line:
Neil McCauley: “Told you I’m never going back.”
What do you say I buy you a cup of coffee?
Due to the coffee shop scene being so memorable, the event which sparks it is often overlooked. It starts as Hanna realizes his relationship with Justine is over. We see Hanna at a loss, standing in the kitchen. What’s fascinating here is that this man handles danger on a daily basis with masterful control over his craft, yet he is completely lost in a domestic environment.
Hanna’s replication of Pacific paints a picture of loneliness: his hands holding the shelves on either side suggests someone who is pushing against the encroachment of normality. It’s in this domestic disagreement, where Hanna has the option to confront his responsibilities and connect with his wife. Instead, he chooses to escape and plunges headlong into the pursuit of McCauley.
The next shot shows the magnificent vista that is Los Angeles at night. As spectacular as it is, this image is tainted – It’s a bustling mega city teeming with life, but in the helicopter, we see the contradiction of man. In a city of millions, Hanna is searching for the one person who he can relate to – his sworn enemy.
As Hanna enters the car, we experience a distinctively subjective moment: – Moby’s ‘New Dawn Fades’ plays as we thunder along the highway looking through Hanna’s POV.
This is one of only a few moments in Heat, in which we experience the emotional state of the characters. In doing so we connect, if only briefly, with their reality. What we see here is that outside of Hanna’s focus, nothing else exists. He lives solely for the hunt.
As Hanna pulls McCauley over, we see that both men have guns at the ready. There is an acknowledgement of one another’s abilities, but there is also an understanding that these men are diametrically opposed.
We’re sitting here, like a couple of regular fellas
As we watch the coffee shop scene unfold, a key point lost in the intensity of the confrontation is the camera work. Throughout the conversation, it goes from longer shots to much more intimate as they get closer in terms of respect, understanding and camaraderie.
The result is a conversation that begins as intense, becomes incredibly intimate, and ends as something truly profound. This can be seen in the ebb and flow of their conversation:
Vincent Hanna: “Seven years in Folsom. In the hole for three. McNeil before that. McNeil as tough as they say?”
Hanna starts off with a description of McCauley’s prison record. This serves as a standard opener used in an interrogation - a half-assed attempt to make McCauley divulge information out of pride. It’s a common approach used on ego-driven criminals like Waingrow.
McCauley’s swift rejection of small talk shows that he is several levels above this.
Neil McCauley: “You lookin' to become a penologist?”
Hanna’s response to this serves as both a parry and counter shot to McCauley’s evasiveness. He goes from being friendly, to the opposite end of the scale and plays the intimidation card:
Vincent Hanna: “You lookin' to go back? You know, I chased down some crews; guys just lookin' to fuck up, get busted back. That you?”
Again, McCauley’s response indicates someone levels above this approach:
Neil McCauley: “You must've worked some dipshit crews.”
Vincent Hanna: “I worked all kinds.”
Hanna’s response is a back step, but still indicates that he has the ability to take down McCauley, should he slip.
McCauley then doubles down on his earlier point, emphasizing the difference between his craft and that of the crews Hanna is familiar with:
Neil McCauley: “You see me doin' thrill-seeker liquor store holdups with a ‘Born to Lose’ tattoo on my chest?”
Vincent Hanna: “No, I do not.”
Neil McCauley: “Right. I am never goin' back.”
Vincent Hanna: “Then don't take down scores.”
Neil McCauley: “I do what I do best, I take scores. You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me.”
Though both traded jabs to begin with, they pay begrudging respect to the other’s craft: Hanna admits that McCauley is not the typical ‘liquor store holdup’ type, and McCauley acknowledges Hanna’s skilled police work. Despite this respect, they remain idealistically deadlocked and the situation stands on a knife edge. It’s Hanna that attempts to cool things down:
Vincent Hanna: “So you never wanted a regular type life?”
Not only is Hanna trying to deescalate the situation, but he is also trying to understand why they are diametrically opposed. McCauley’s response here, is the exact moment that that this conversation becomes something much more profound:
Neil McCauley: “What the fuck is that? Barbeques and ballgames?”
Vincent Hanna: “Yeah.”
McCauley’s statement resonates deeply with Hanna. It’s not that the statement on life contains any objective accuracy, more that it captures the feeling of contempt that both have for normality. It’s telling that both men smile here, letting their guard down. They laugh at the ridiculousness of existence.
“When a person is laughing, they are defenseless. It is a completely Zen moment. You are never more yourself than when you have been surprised into laughing.”
- George Carlin
It’s at this precise moment that the two men open up about their lives. The scene then goes beyond a typical showdown in a cop thriller and instead becomes a transcendent experience:
Neil McCauley: “This regular type-life like your your life?”
Vincent Hanna: “…My life's a disaster zone. I got a stepdaughter so fucked up because her real father's this large-type asshole. I got a wife, we're passing each other on the down-slope of a marriage - my third - because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block. That's my life.”
The smile that Hanna shows at the end of his description is key to note here, as it’s one of vulnerability. Throughout the film, Hanna has been a monstrous, intimidating figure even amongst dangerous criminals, yet here, he is sharing his most intimate details with a man who would happily put a bullet in him. The reason why he shares this information, can be seen by looking at what happened earlier - having just been in a confrontation with Justine, Hanna needed to offload, and curiously, he chose McCauley. It’s an interesting choice when considering their incompatibility, but it reflects what happened in reality. As Mann himself stated of the real-life encounter between Adamson and McCauley:
“They wound up having one of those intimate conversations you sometimes have with strangers.”