Review of House of Games (1987) by Brandon H — 13 Aug 2010

I've seen many David Mamet directed and/or written films. Glengarry Glen Ross, Heist, Wag the Dog, Spartan, The Spanish Prisoner, Ronin, Edmond, The Verdict. Possibly others without realizing it. And this falls right in the center of them. Is it better than some of the other, possibly more manipulative of his movies? Yes, probably. But it's still got that David Mamet feel to it, which is beginning to wear on me.

Here's the problem. I don't enjoy watching a bunch of actors acting on the screen. I want to see characters. And that requires them to act naturally, not in a structured, rigid way is in theater acting. Sometimes the dialogue is resounding, as in all Mamet movies, and other times the dialogue is laughable because the timing is off.

Maybe that's the problem. Mamet movies take themselves too seriously. The actors are required to approach the material, it seems to me, in a strangely limiting way. Don't get me wrong, I love David Mamet, especially as a theater writer. But for the films he's fairly hit or miss; I don't think his directing, or sometimes his writing style, was meant for modern movies. It worked in Spartan, it worked in Glengarry Glen Ross, in worked in The Verdict. But Heist, The Spanish Prisoner, and now this, they all reek of the same strategy, the same cloth, the same approach, the same stilted acting, and its not working on a level above plot, aside from a few moment where you smile because of the smart dialogue. That's not enough to make a truly successful movie. At least not for me.