Y-a-w-n

I originally saw this film in a small, empty cinema in a small empty town in Canada while the snow fell heavily outside. Being half drunk at the time and in quite high spirits I had quite a fondness for this film at the time. To be honest, I could have watched 2 hours of Sunset Beach and I still would have been happy.

David Mamet is a brilliant playwright and screenwriter (The Untouchables, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Glengarry Glen Ross) so you know he's got the talent. The problem with this he knows he's clever but wants to rub it in your face.

All of the actors give fine performances, Dustin Hoffman as a lead character is as intense as ever and the fat dude with the moustache from NYPD Blue (David Franz?) shows he is a talent and can hold his own on the big screen. Hoffman said of his character that, 'On the surface, Teach is an ineffective, petty criminal, but what is intriguing is the unexpected vulnerability and complexity he reveals.' Well, maybe he's intense Hoffers but he's a bit one dimensional. Too often it all becomes tedious and little more than a mechanism for delivering some fine lines. I walked off to make cups of coffee throughout it, sitting through it again because I kept hoping it would speed up and get interesting. But no.

It's one of those films where you start off with high hopes but it quickly becomes apparent that this would be an incredible play but in reality just an average film. It doesn't translate that well to the screen.

I'd highly recommend this if you've just taken a valium and want to see how long you can delay the sweet release of a deep sleep.