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House Of Games
1987
David Mamet's directorial debut finds him exploring his abiding interest in deception and inviting his audience to be prepared for endless twists and turns. The film is a character study of Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), a psychiatrist and best-selling author specializing in addictive behaviour. During a therapy session, .. Read more
| Starring | Joe Mantegna, Lindsay Crouse, Mike Nussbaum, Lilia Skala |
|---|---|
| Director | David Mamet |
| Genres | Drama |
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House Of Games
David Mamet's directorial debut finds him exploring his abiding interest in deception and inviting his audience to be prepared for endless twists and turns. The film is a character study of Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), a psychiatrist and best-selling author specializing in addictive behaviour. During a therapy session, she discovers that a patient owes a $25,000 gambling debt. When she becomes involved on her patient's behalf, she enters an underworld populated with fascinating characters. Dr. Ford is both strong and vulnerable, and Crouse exploits this ambiguity in a powerful central performance. Joe Mantegna is also a presence as underworld denizen Mike. The strong overall acting and well-crafted plot pleased critics and proved to be at the heart of Mamet's future filmmaking successes.
| Starring | Joe Mantegna, Lindsay Crouse, Mike Nussbaum, Lilia Skala |
|---|---|
| Director | David Mamet |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 38 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 02 Feb 2004 Production year: 1987 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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After several notable plays and the screenplays for The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict and The Untouchables, David Mamet became a director with this delectably clever parlour-game picture, which should delight connoisseurs of thrillers and cryptic crosswords. It's rather low on directorial flair, but high on literacy and performance values. Mamet's-then wife, Lindsay Crouse, plays a psychiatrist confronting the gambler (Joe Mantegna) who drove one of her patients to near-suicide. A card game results, with psychiatrist and gambler realising how similar their respective trades are. The joker in the pack is Mamet himself — this deck is well and truly stacked with bluff, double-bluff and a thrilling ace-in-the-hole finale.
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In playwright David Mamet's directorial debut, best-selling psychiatrist Margaret Ford (Crouse) decides to confront the... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Mamet's directorial debut is one of his best
Snappy dialogue - check. Amoral characters - check. Double-crosses - check. Stagey direction - check. That's right folks, we're in David Mamet territory here.
Mamet's 'House of Games' was his first time behind the camera and it stands up as one of his better efforts. Tricky and slick, it proves the con movie is probably the genre best suited to Mamet's style. The story concerns an uptight psychiatrist named Margaret(Lindsay Crouse), who discovers one of her patients is suicidal because of a gambling debt to Mike(Joe Mantegna). Acting beyond the call of duty, Margaret visits Mike's bar in an attempt to persuade him to call off the debt. Mike is rather taken with this strong and attractive woman and soon she's caught up in his world of con-men and tricksters.
Mamet has written some smart screenplays but this is one of the few times when his direction fully complements it. His trademark rythmic dialogue - a combination of musical rhythm of stopping, backing up, repeating, emphasizing - fits well with a group of characters who live by a shorthand or code, indecipherable to outsiders.
The casting is strong with the underrated Mantegna giving an absorbing performance. The scenes where Mike explains the psychology of the con to Margaret are the best in the picture. His analysis of the tell-tale signs and type of characters to go after makes for compelling viewing. Crouse, however, is a weak link. She seems uncomfortable with Mamet's style and her method of playing an uptight, conservative character is stiff and awkward.
I'm not the biggest fan of Mamet's work but this is entertaining stuff and, despite requiring a few leaps of logic, it holds together pretty well. Mamet's characters not only manage to con each other, they also fox the audience, and it's fun to try and keep up. A witty and sly look at a netherworld where people only live for the next con, sting or hustle. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Nice work.
A very clever film.
Mamet shows us a few tricks, a few cons, and then demonstrates their usage on us the poor audience.
Engaging leads, Mamet's rhythmic dialogue and good use of locations. -
News and features
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Edmond
- 03 Jul 2007
'You are not where you belong,' the fortune teller informs him. Edmond (William H Macy) knows this is the truth. He goes home and tells his wife it's over. 'You don't interest me spiritually or sexually,' he says. She shows him the door and he walks through it, out into the night. His first stop is a bar. 'A man has to get away from himself,' he says - or maybe it's the guy he's talking to. At any rate, on this they agree. The guy (Joe Mantegna) gives him a card for a sex club. 'I don't want... Read more
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David Mamet's directorial debut finds him exploring his abiding interest in deception and inviting his audience to be prepared for endless twists and turns. The film is a character study of Dr. ... -