review by Carl Ingebretsen Pro
House of Games 1987
Watched Jul 11, 2012
Carl Ingebretsen’s review:
Oh, how I wish this was just a little bit better!
The first half is freaking awesome, but then the last half comes along and becomes a bit too predictable. There are very good performances, a well-written script and an excellent tone and feel in the film, so it's really not bad, but it could've been a true classic. Still, enjoyable and worth a look, especially for Mamet's writing and characterizations.
It's pretty great, isn't it? I'm a total Mamet fanboy, I could never tire of his dialogue.
I'm not a total fanboy, but I'm pretty much working my way up to it. Glengarry Glen Ross was good and HOG was awesome. I quite like The Untouchables, fucking hated Hannibal (but it's been too long since I first saw it), but that's all I've seen.
Slowly working my way through his bibliography now though, and I really like what I see! His dialogue is excellent, the plots are interesting or exciting.
I saw the twist in this coming though, and wondered why Margaret didn't. I mean, she HAD just been played earlier. I wasn't a 100% certain, but as it rolled on I knew, especially when they asked her for money.
I felt the end was a bit too neat. Would've been more fun to see her play them, though maybe not as realistic. In retrospect, maybe I liked the second half more than I gave it credit for... I'm going to have to rewatch it sometime to be sure.
It's definitely worth a rewatch, I've seen it a couple of times now. Homicide is also excellent and I really enjoyed Heist as well on the further Mamet viewing front.
Great, thanks! I'll prioritize those then. ;)
How is The Unit btw? Have you seen any of that?
I haven't, but I don't really watch much TV as I can never find the time. I have got it watchlisted somewhere, though.