Word: mamet
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...MANY things that should be pleasures are not," says one of the characters near the beginning of House of Games. As writer-director David Mamet quickly shows us, many things that should not be pleasures...
Written and directed by David Mamet...
...opening half hour is as stiff and controlled as Margaret. House wears the self-conscious artiness of its images and characters like a badge, and Mamet's dialogue sounds impossibly stilted. The scenes between Crouse and her patients demonstrate that no one would ever tell this woman anything. Everything is terribly solemn and Bergman-esque...
ANOTHER relief is that Mamet does a much better job mimicking the cadences of the criminals' speech. He even begins to write in some jokes. (One of the con men talks about being a member of "the United States of Kiss My Ass.") As in some of his plays, such as American Buffalo and especially Glengarry Glen Ross, Mamet is fascinated with the underworld businessman. Mamet's crooks have most of the same qualities of normal nine to fivers. Their business is riskier but it has its own rules and its own drudgery...
...this creates a careful, studied quality. There's no one to trust in this film, not even Margaret, since Crouse prevents us from reading her completely. The suspense in this thriller is mostly psychological, although the plot that Mamet concocted has enough power to propel the film...