|
starring: Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum, Lilia Skala, J.T. Walshdirected by: David Mamet
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304108871
Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 6304108877
Label: Good Times Video
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Good Times Video
Release Date: May 15, 2001
Running Time: 102 minutes
Sales Rank: 24017
Studio: Good Times Video
Theatrical Release Date: October 11, 1987
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
David Mamet's 1987 directorial debut was this mesmerizing study of control and seduction between two kinds of detached observers: a gambler who is also a con artist, and a psychotherapist who is also an emerging pop-psych guru in the book market. The latter (played by Lindsay Crouse) meets the former (Joe Mantegna) when one of her clients is driven to despair from his debts to the card shark. Mantegna's character agrees to drop the IOUs in exchange for Crouse's attention at the seedy House of Games in Seattle, a mecca for con men to talk shop and hustle unsuspecting customers. The shrink gets so caught up in the arcane rules and world view of her guide over subsequent days that she observes--with no false rapture--various stings in progress inside and outside the club. Mamet's story finally becomes a fascinating study of two people protecting and extending their respective cosmologies the way rival predators fight for the same piece of turf. The psychological challenge is compelling; so is the stylized dialogue, with its pattern of pauses and hiccups and humming meter. Mostly shooting at night, Mamet also gave Seattle a different look from previous filmmakers, turning its familiar puddles into concentrations of liquid neon and poisonous noir. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Fool me once,shame on you,fool me twice,shame on me....
"House of Games",David Mamet's cinematic debut,is supposed to be about the complexities of the human mind and relationships. Maggie (Lindsay Crouse),a psychologist,has a patient with a gambling problem (Mantegna) Instead of helping him give up his addiction, Maggie is swept in. He teaches her about card games (yawn) He's a player,of course. Maggie doesn't hate the player,she hates the game. Well,she hates that she loves it. They go to the House of Games in Seattle to watch it all unfold. Maggie is ... Read More
Rating:  - hateful poorly directed film
THe key performances are off. THey feel like stage performances rather than cinematic. Im assuming its the direction thats misguided; most of the performances are consistently bad in the same way.
The writing is very angry. Like a temper tantrum against human nature.
THe depiction of female characters is ugly.
the plot is very predictable.
Rating:  - The Criterion Collection release is widescreen and has an excellent commentary by Mamet and Ricky Jay
SPOILERS AHEAD: Dr. Margaret Ford is such a good mark because she's such a bad girl. Dr. Ford is a con artist. She is a devious woman. She is aroused by the art of the con. She wants to be a thief herself. At the end of the film we learn--when she exacts her revenge--that she is in fact more ruthless and cold than any of the grifters who set her up. What many viewers might miss when watching House of Games is that Dr. Margaret Ford was already a con artist before involving herself with the cardsharp. ... Read More
Rating: - Outstanding, classic film. Vastly overpriced Criterion DVD...
Shame on Criterion for pricing this only slightly lux version of standard packaging, graphics, and extras at the $35.00 price point where one would expect a high end treatment throughout the entire package! The new transfer is absolutely first rate. But talk about cheap and over priced packaging and extras! Nothing but a plastic case, a single disc, a fat booklet and a few on disc extras, no more than you would get with a regular edition for countless other films. This disc might do well at $16.99, but at thirty ... Read More
Rating: - Co-wrote by Dr. Katz...
...who would have thought.
Excellent movie. For anybody, especially David Mamet fans!
|
