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  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • French: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • German: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
    French, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, English - Hearing Impaired, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German - Hearing Impaired, Romanian
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer

House of Games

MGM/MGM Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 97 mins . M . PAL

  Feature
Contract

David Mamet, noted writer and Pulitzer Prize winner, directs his first feature film here in House of Games. It’s about con men.

The trouble with con films is we can more often than not see the twist coming. Here we can in a deliberate fashion, but how much of what we guess has been sculpted for us? Are we being conned ourselves, manipulated into thinking what the director (and co-writer) want us to think? The more I think about it, the more I think this is true, for surely the twist is too obvious? Surely the fact we can see it heading straight for us is because Mamet wants us to.

And then BAM!, the one we didn’t see coming.

Unfortunately, this red herring approach does work well, but the secondary follow up hasn’t been quite developed enough to warrant an easy understanding, or a twist we could care about. The big one just passed and as we pat ourselves on the back for seeing it coming, this other one drops in and we don’t really care. At least that’s what I thought.

I’d better tell you what I’m talking about;

Margaret Ford is a well-known psychologist riding high on the success of her first book about obsession and compulsion. When a patient complains she can’t help him with his gambling debt, she confronts the guys he owes the money to and finagles away the debt. However, she is drawn into the world of the sleazy con and soon becomes embroiled in a world of ripping people off until it all goes wrong and someone is killed. Now she’s in all sorts of shit and doesn’t know how to extricate herself.

This story is a pretty good one, in retrospect, but is let down by the entirely wooden and almost disconnected performance of Lindsay Crouse as psychologist Ford. Her lines are stilted and her delivery rigid and while some may argue this is a huge part of her character, it just doesn’t work well. Even as she’s entering into the world of the con she remains so aloof and distant it paints her as a very unpleasant character with who which we couldn’t give a shit. Let her get ripped off, I don’t care.

So the story is fairly tight, but could have benefited from some further tightening just a touch, like five to ten minutes. Mamet does create some nice building tension, but it feels like he’s still finding his way, as his following films (in particular Glen Garry Glen Ross) are far more dynamic on the whole. For fans of his work this is worth the look, for sure, but Crouse’s major role here dampens enthusiasm severely and ruins a film that certainly had potential.

  Video
Contract

Shot (dead) in 1987, this film doesn’t look as bad as it could, nor does it look as good. That puts this right about the middle in the transfer quality stakes. There are some artefacts, but not a great deal and nothing really obvious. Colour's a bit drab and very ’80s in usage, but blacks are true enough. Shadow detail, on the other hand, isn’t the best and is plain old crap at other times. Flesh tones are alright, but again seem a little drab. The whole film arrives courtesy of 1.85:1 and brings 16:9 anamorphic enhancement with it.

  Audio
Contract

This is actually a surprisingly good Dolby Digital stereo mix here, apart from the wooden dialogue. The worst part of this is in Joe Mantegna’s perfectly natural delivery that just exacerbates the crappiness of Crouse’s. Still, it’s all easily understood and there are no obvious synch issues. Sound effects too are well synched, while Alaric Jans’ musical score is actually pretty good. There are some pieces that are very ‘of the time’, but some are entirely timeless and almost fun in their delivery. The surrounds naturally sleep away the evening, with the subwoofer barking once or twice and supporting the music occasionally, but pretty much does the same thing.

  Extras
Contract

All we get here is the original theatrical trailer and this is plopped in at enhanced 1.85:1 for a minute 55.

  Overall  
Contract

What had the potential to be a pretty good story (well, it actually isn’t too bad a story) is ruined by a crappy performance from Mamet’s leading lady Lindsay Crouse. Her wooden stature and delivery ruins a bunch of otherwise great performances in Mamet’s first directorial role. This is for fans of his work only, or anyone who wants to see Joe Montegna bring in yet another dependable performance with some great lines.


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      And I quote...
    "David Mamet’s directorial debut is spoiled by a sub-par performance from his lead in this 1987 con man tale."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Teac DVD-990
    • TV:
          AKAI CT-T29S32S 68cm
    • Speakers:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Centre Speaker:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Surrounds:
          Teac PLS-60 Home Theatre System
    • Subwoofer:
          Akai
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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