God descending from the sky and taking his gun away.

That why heat works as a Greek tragedy more than a shakesperean one. It's a tale of hubris and mundanity, in my opinion. Everything is so spectacular but it's just another Tuesday for these people. DeNiro was never meant to leave the life of crime, and Pacino will continue to be an asshole and bad stepfather as he was before catching the bad guy of the week.

No one in this film is capable of changing, the only transformation they can go through is death itself.