Great story about human weaknesses. Now the problem with Mamet dialogue is you have to be a special kind of actor to make it sound real. Everyone in the movie is right on the money but the female lead. With a lesser story, the wheels would come off the wagon completely because of her terrible acting but in the movie, she's forgettable.
Mamet's directorial debut, starring the wonderful Joe Mantegna and Mamet's first wife, Lindsay Crouse. It's the story of a psychologist who gets interested in the world of con men and gets taken for a ride herself. An 80s film noir thriller that is actually very fresh and difficult to get ahead of. Crouse is a major distraction, in my opinion. I can see the reasoning behind a female character who is "plain" to the point of being "mannish", but she exudes a kind of anti-charisma and has a robotic delivery I find off-putting. Still, good flick.
The biggest takeaway here is the beautiful homage this film gave to the noirs of the 40s with the lightning, close-ups, music etc. You can instantly settle with crime flicks like these and the 100 minutes just fly by. There were 20+ shots that were just pure art.
There were some flaws too. I guess if you've already seen The Sting, nothing can come as too much of a surprise with these kind of films. Mamet still got me in the end but a big part of the movie was quite predictable. The dialogue was on point but as another said, it needed the right kind of actors for it. I didn't mind the female lead as most people seem to, but I can see how she could be seen as a bit of a stiff here.
This movie would be a way bigger hit today in the Gone Girl-Promising Young Woman laden cinematic landscape we have. Deserves a re-release. Very memorable.
Some of the worst acting I've ever seen, especially in such a highly rated film. If you ignore the fact that
the con men wouldn't have been able to rely on the doc doing all this super erratic and unpredictable behavior like tracking down the bar and demanding to see the debtholder of her patient, etc.
the story is really interesting. This deserves a really good remake by Soderbergh or Fincher. Or a really violent adaptaion by Park Chan-wook.
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BadFluffy
Great story about human weaknesses. Now the problem with Mamet dialogue is you have to be a special kind of actor to make it sound real. Everyone in the movie is right on the money but the female lead. With a lesser story, the wheels would come off the wagon completely because of her terrible acting but in the movie, she's forgettable.MM
Brilliant film, very tense and tight thriller with pacy dialogue and great cinematography.Siskoid
Mamet's directorial debut, starring the wonderful Joe Mantegna and Mamet's first wife, Lindsay Crouse. It's the story of a psychologist who gets interested in the world of con men and gets taken for a ride herself. An 80s film noir thriller that is actually very fresh and difficult to get ahead of. Crouse is a major distraction, in my opinion. I can see the reasoning behind a female character who is "plain" to the point of being "mannish", but she exudes a kind of anti-charisma and has a robotic delivery I find off-putting. Still, good flick.Dieguito
Amazing movie.. A twisting story, a very special applause for the last 20 minutes..fragmaster
I was kind of pissed off because I thought I had the twist figured outDeus
awesomesushantv10
a real surprise .........shitmovies
Perfectly paced, great tension, the twists are all pulled off smoothly. Top of its game the whole way through.Forzelius
The biggest takeaway here is the beautiful homage this film gave to the noirs of the 40s with the lightning, close-ups, music etc. You can instantly settle with crime flicks like these and the 100 minutes just fly by. There were 20+ shots that were just pure art.There were some flaws too. I guess if you've already seen The Sting, nothing can come as too much of a surprise with these kind of films. Mamet still got me in the end but a big part of the movie was quite predictable. The dialogue was on point but as another said, it needed the right kind of actors for it. I didn't mind the female lead as most people seem to, but I can see how she could be seen as a bit of a stiff here.
This movie would be a way bigger hit today in the Gone Girl-Promising Young Woman laden cinematic landscape we have. Deserves a re-release. Very memorable.
John Greer
Some of the worst acting I've ever seen, especially in such a highly rated film. If you ignore the fact thatpsdantonio
Words cannot fully convey my absolute disliking of the female lead. Perhaps it was her hair, but I was rooting against her from the get-go.