House of Games

In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who owes heavy gambling debts. When she herself is the victim of a con, she becomes intrigued by the psychological drama of the con game and joins in a complicated scam involving a suitcase of cash. Mamet directs his extremely complicated plot with skill and complete control until it is impossible to tell who is the con and who is the victim. The suspense builds to an amazing surprise ending which is both reasonable and believable but completely unpredictable. Crouse and Mantegna are outstanding as are all the supporting performances. Mamet and his cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia create a visually stunning, compelling film that does justice to Mamet's superbly written screenplay. Criterion rip.






House of Games is the directional debut from playwright David Mamet and it is an effective and at times surprising psychological thriller. It stars Lindsay Crouse as best-selling psychiatrist, Margaret Ford, who decides to confront the gambler who has driven one of her patients to contemplate suicide. In doing so she leaves the safety and comfort of her somewhat ordinary life behind and travels `downtown' to visit the lowlife place, House of Games.

The gambler Mike (played excellently by Joe Mantegna) turns out to be somewhat sharp and shifty. He offers Crouse's character a deal, if she is willing to sit with him at a game, a big money game in the backroom, he'll cancel the patients debts. The card game ensues and soon the psychiatrist and the gambler are seen to be in a familiar line of work (gaining the trust of others) and a fascinating relationship begins. What makes House of Games interesting and an essential view for any film fan is the constant guessing of who is in control, is it the psychiatrist or the con-man or is it the well-known man of great bluffs David Mamet.

In House of Games the direction is dull and most of the times flat and uninspiring, however in every David Mamet film it is the story which is central to the whole proceedings, not the direction. In House of Games this shines through in part thanks to the superb performances from the two leads (showy and distracting) but mainly as is the case with much of Mamet's work, it is the dialogue, which grips you and slowly draws you into the film. No one in the House of Games says what they mean and conversations become battlegrounds and war of words. Everyone bluffs and double bluffs, which is reminiscent of a poker games natural order. This is a running theme throughout the film and is used to great effect at the right moments to create vast amounts of tension. House of Games can also be viewed as a `class-war' division movie. With Lindsay Crouse we have the middle-class, well-to-do educated psychiatrist and Joe Mantegna is the complete opposite, the working class of America earning a living by `honest' crime. IMDB comment






Casa de juegos. Thriller extraño, con un memorable clima de misterio, que cuenta la historia de una frustrada psiquiatra en plena crisis personal que se introduce en el atractivo y sugerente mundo de los timadores de los bajos fondos. Más que un estudio social (que lo es, también), es una reflexión psicológica acerca de la naturaleza humana, del engaño como única opción vital para satisfacerse a uno mismo en una sociedad materialista y hueca, con una conclusión radicalmente pesimista. Mamet nos lleva de la mano con la misma fascinación que Lindsay Crusoe acompaña a Joe Mantegna por ese mundo desconocido, fascinante y lleno de morbo. La película se construye con la lentitud necesaria para que nos dejemos absorber por sus detalles, sus magníficos y siempre significativos diálogos, sin renunciar por ello a una trama dinámica espléndida.






Engrenages. Le Docteur Margaret Ford est une jeune et brillante psy, peut-être un peu froide et austère. Elle va être amenée à changer quelque peu ses habitudes après sa rencontre avec un joueur professionel dont le style la fascine et à qui elle va demander de lui enseigner son art de l'arnaque. Certaines affaires peuvent très mal tourner...