It amazed me that Mamet's follow-up, The Spanish Prisoner, was so weak relative to it's 10-year-old predecessor, House of Games.
It may take you as long as 15 minutes to become entranced in Mamet's world, but once you do, you won't move again until the very end. If you have ANY interest in con games whatsoever, you MUST see this movie.
Joe Mantegna's performance is great, while Lindsay Crouse (Mamet's wife at the time - interesting side note: Rebecca Pidgeon, the female lead of Spanish Prisoner, was Mamet's wife at the time that THAT picture came out) is obviously a stage actor at best. But you can easily look past that. Keep an eye out for a quick scene with a very young William H Macy - an old schoolmate of Mamet's!
Having seen this movie at least a dozen times, every time it comes on Bravo, I find myself unable to leave. Every detail of the plot holds up, even after multiple viewings. The characters are great, and importantly - consistent.
One thing I liked very much is that the characters never make the 'dumb' decision. What I mean by that is if you go see the Michael Douglas film, The Game, it is quite enjoyable once. However, upon repeat viewing, you quickly realize that every decision he makes, throughout the entire film, is basically dumb. In House of Games, this is absolutely not the case.
If you are interested in a movie that really makes you think, and slowly unfolds the story to you on its own terms, this is the one to see.
A by-th-book psychiatrist falls in love with a slick con artistand eventually becomes seduced by his dangerous way of life.Special features: theatrica...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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