NBC 'Heist': It's all about a dance
The pilot's director also directed 'Mr. & amp; Mrs. Smith.'
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The detective sits down next to the thief. The atmosphere between them is tense. Then she takes his hand and suggests they dance. A moment later they're twirling to a waltz.
It's a scene from "Heist," a cops-and-robbers series that premieres Wednesday on NBC at 10 p.m.
Michele Hicks plays Amy Sykes, lead detective in the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division. Dougray Scott plays Mickey O'Neil, a professional crook who is plotting an elaborate heist scheduled for Academy Awards week, when the carat count in Beverly Hills is incalculable.
To case out the woman who could foil his best-laid plans, O'Neil visits the dance classes she takes after work.
The couple are clearly attracted to each other. He knows she's a cop. She's doesn't yet know she's caught up in the arms of a thief. But it's still early in the elaborate plot (these scenes are being filmed for Episodes Four and Five), so the sensual two-stepping in a San Fernando Valley dance studio is only a hint of what may come.
But, as executive producers and writers Mark and Robb Cullen point out, it's also an apt metaphor for the theme of this serialized comedic drama -- the fictional dance plays out as cops try to catch a thief and thieves try to elude the law.
Caring about it
The pilot episode for the Cullen brothers' caper was directed by Doug Liman, director of "Mr. & amp; Mrs. Smith," which starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in a wildly improbable caper.
"As stylized as he is, Doug has a sort of filter where he can't shoot something that's not true and something that he doesn't feel is right with the character. He just does it with enormous flair and that's what we took with us in the show," says Mark Cullen.
"We want to do high style," says Robb Cullen. "Obviously we want it to be sexy and fun and cool and fast, but for us it always comes down to character, and do you care about these people, and do you want to hang out with them and follow them ..."
The series teems with eclectic characters, played by an equally eclectic bunch of actors. Seymour Cassel (Oscar-nominated for John Cassevetes' "Faces"), Steve Harris (Emmy-nominated for "The Practice"), Polish-born Marika Dominczyk and relative newcomer David Walton portray O'Neil's band of robbers. Comedian Billy Gardell and Reno Wilson ("The Hoop Life") are contentious partners on Sykes' detective squad.
The Cullens are fans of heist movies starring cocky anti-heroes. They write to have fun both honoring and rethinking the genre.
The "Heist" plot isn't completely improbable. One-time thief Sonny D'Angelo, now a consultant on films and TV series, says it's highly likely that there are robbers who view all that bling on display at award shows as something they'd like to grab.
Making it believable
D'Angelo's job on "Heist" is to help the action stay close to feasible. "We don't want to show people how to actually rob places, but we like to make it look as believable as possible," he says, waiting around the set this day, not likely to be consulted about dance moves.
"The technical aspects of the different capers that they pull off here are very specific ... more realistic, as opposed to Angelina Jolie jumping out of a window with an umbrella," laughs Hicks.
Hicks' credits include the part of the prostitute in "Twin Falls Idaho," and a recurring role in FX's "The Shield." She says Sykes is "a woman who obviously likes the dark side, likes living on the edge," but might be vulnerable to the lure of romance.
Scott's credits range from playing a crooked cop in the Welsh movie "Twin Town" to co-starring with Drew Barrymore in the romantic fantasy "Ever After." He's also been a rogue agent in "Mission: Impossible II," and a code-cracking math genius in "Enigma." He'll play Moses in the upcoming ABC miniseries "The Ten Commandments."