There's not too much good to say about this film. Although The Big Heist did include a few accurate details Goodfellas left out, this film as a whole depicted an entirely innacurate account of the real Burke crew and the multimillion dolllar robbery they pulled off.
SPOILERS AHEAD
For one thing, Jimmy Burke was portrayed as an aging gangster who was more or less a noble criminal and loving father who only wanted the best for his crew and family. When his boss, Paul Vario (portrayed as a capo for the Gambino's, when in real life he was a capo for the Lucchese family) ordered the deaths of each member of Jimmy's crew, Jimmy vehemently protested the order (in his own words from the movie, "Paulie, I can't! I love those guys!") until he was forced to follow through with the order under distress of a death threat aimed at his son.
In actuality, the real Jimmy Burke ordered (and sometimes personally partook) the murders of his own crew simply because of the greed and paranoia the heist brought upon him.
Tommy DeSimone was portrayed as a flaymoyant, disco loving stooge who came across as more of a caricature than the violent sociopath he really was.
There are many, MANY more inaccurate depictions I could go through, but I simply don't have the time to do it.
All in all, this was a poorly written made for television movie that was meant make you sympathize with a brazen antihero...but the big problem with The Big Heist is that the real Jimmy Burke was never an antihero at all, much less a hero. He was a mass murdering psychopath and this cinematic glamorization of his life is a blatant insult towards the many lives he destroyed during his violent time on this earth.
SPOILERS AHEAD
For one thing, Jimmy Burke was portrayed as an aging gangster who was more or less a noble criminal and loving father who only wanted the best for his crew and family. When his boss, Paul Vario (portrayed as a capo for the Gambino's, when in real life he was a capo for the Lucchese family) ordered the deaths of each member of Jimmy's crew, Jimmy vehemently protested the order (in his own words from the movie, "Paulie, I can't! I love those guys!") until he was forced to follow through with the order under distress of a death threat aimed at his son.
In actuality, the real Jimmy Burke ordered (and sometimes personally partook) the murders of his own crew simply because of the greed and paranoia the heist brought upon him.
Tommy DeSimone was portrayed as a flaymoyant, disco loving stooge who came across as more of a caricature than the violent sociopath he really was.
There are many, MANY more inaccurate depictions I could go through, but I simply don't have the time to do it.
All in all, this was a poorly written made for television movie that was meant make you sympathize with a brazen antihero...but the big problem with The Big Heist is that the real Jimmy Burke was never an antihero at all, much less a hero. He was a mass murdering psychopath and this cinematic glamorization of his life is a blatant insult towards the many lives he destroyed during his violent time on this earth.