Mamet is great because he falls in the category of both writer and director. Ever since I saw House of Games, which I highly recommend, I have been fascninated with David Mamet. Glengarry Glen Ross remains one of my top 5 favorite films and I have very much enjoyed all his other work. What is your opinion of Mamet's films and his unique writing style?

I'm afraid I'm not really adding much in the way of thoughtfulness. My first experience with Mamet would have been watching the film "The Verdict" with Paul Newman in 1982. Mamet wrote the script, and I recognized the name but didn't really know much about his plays. A few years later, his name was on another big-time film, "The Untouchables."

It wasn't until the next year when "House of Games" came out and Ebert named it #1 film of 1987 that I actually paid attention to how unique Mamet's vision was. He wrote and directed this, his first film, with and for his first wife, Lindsay Crouse. It also starred this guy who seemed vaguely-familiar but I didn't really remember, Joe Mantegna. Anyhow those two main characters and everyone else all spoke in this clipped, almost secret code of a language. You could understand what they were saying, but it seemed that the characters understood (or sometimes misunderstood) more than the audience. "House of Games" still holds up as a classic film of its genre. I guess I'd call it "The Sting" for intellectuals. (That's not a slam at either movie.)

Anyhow, besides "House of Games", my favorite films which Mamet wrote AND directed are "Homicide" and "Heist."

As far as his scripts go, "Glengarry Glen Ross" seems iconic, but I also liked "Hoffa", "The Edge", "Ronin" and "Hannibal."

Thanks for the input Mark. I wish I would have been old enough then to see those films in the theater. Did you actually see House of Games on the big screen? It's amazing, even being a big fan of his, that I am continually reminded of all the great films he penned like Malcolm X and The Untouchables. I also highly recommend Spanish Prisoner if you haven't seen that one as well as his newest Spartan. Both very entertaining.

Yep, I was one of the three people in the theatre. It must have been 1988, since Ebert had already spilled his top ten, and this may be complete BS, but it seems to me that Siskel also listed it as numero uno! Anybody remember, hal ?

I just wanted to pick on you for one minute Jackie.

"He's so cool that when he goes to bed, sheep count him."
STUPID!

Hey Jakal, it's lines like that that make Mamet Mamet. It's not stupid, it's original. Who would think of that? When I get tired of listening to the same old hum drum of a screenplay, played out in practically every movie that comes out these days, I watch a Mamet flick. It's a breath of fresh air! It's like hearing a waterfall after you've been walking through the desert for days. It blows you away and you can't get enough. That's me at least.

I'm just trying to say that he is pretty hit and miss. I like it better when he lets others take the director's seat, like he did with James Foley in GG GR. Don't we all wish that Lucas got someone else to direct the prequels?

You are right though, sometimes it IS like hearing a waterfall after you've been walking through the desert for days. But sometimes it is like eating a intensely strong flavored dingleberry after a long jog in the hot sun, ie Spartan.

Wow...you didn't like Spartan? I really enjoyed it. Not saying it was a great film by any means, and definately not one of his better ones, but it was still fun.

David Mamet is one of my favorites, both as a screenwriter, playwright & filmmaker and my experience with Mamet closely tracks with Mark F's experiences.

1982 was the year I started to get seriously interested in films and remember loving THE VERDICT, which Mamet wrote. I also caught HOUSE OF GAMES, Mamet's directorial debut, and thought it was terrific.

I have seen both films subsequently and they both hold up well.

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSE is also one of my favorite films and one of Al Pacino's best performances. Hell, they were all good in that one. A dessicated Jack Lemmon as Shelly "The Machine" Levine; Kevin Spacey as a wimpy office manager; Alec Baldwin in a smarmy cameo; Alan Arkin; Jonathan Price as Pacino's gullible customer. What a terrific film!

Mamet wrote the script to one of Brian DePalma's better films, THE UNTOUCHABLES, and I loved SPARTAN. That one kind of came and went through the theatres very quickly, but I found it was flat out terrific and didn't get the credit that it deserved. It reminded me a little bit of SYRIANA.

I'm a huge Mamet fan, and think he's one of America's most gifted writers and directors. Two great films I haven't seen mentioned in this thread are 1997's "The Spanish Prisoner", a great Hitchcock inspired thriller starring Campbell Scott, and his 2000 foray into comedy, "State and Main", a great movie about making a movie.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I'm a huge Mamet fan, and think he's one of America's most gifted writers and directors. Two great films I haven't seen mentioned in this thread are 1997's "The Spanish Prisoner", a great Hitchcock inspired thriller starring Campbell Scott, and his 2000 foray into comedy, "State and Main", a great movie about making a movie.

Yeah, I liked THE SPANISH PRISONER and that was the film that caused me to stop reading film reviews before I caught a movie, or at least reading those reviews of films I was going to see no matter what. Reading the review ahead of time kind of spoiled the surprise.

I'm glad I had a chance to come across this thread about David Mamet. I've only see three of his movies State and Main (2000), The Heist (2001), and Spartan (2004). I really can't form an opinion of Mr. Mamet based on three movies, but I admit that all three of these movie were solid, substantive, and credible movies. Spartan, in particular, is one of my favorite espionage films of all time. Mamet's serious and harsh, stark look into this cold world was fabulous and actually better than The Bourne Supremacy (2004) which I also enjoyed the same year.

I think I was spoiled -- the first Mamet film I ever saw was Glengarry Glen Ross, and I still think it's his greatest work, at least as a screenwriter. Other films that haven't been mentioned so far are Homicide, Wag the Dog, and Ronin, which I have seen and would praise for their heady writing.

Collaborating with John Frankenheimer on Ronin, in my opinion, resulted in one of the greatest espionage thrillers of all time. Granted, there are a number of great ones, including Spartan. I remember going to the theater with exactly no knowledge of what the latter film was about and being blown away. Unfortunately, the same was not true for Heist, which I felt was one of the worst films I had seen that year.

Overall, though, I still consider Mamet one of the more gifted writers working in film today, as he can really do it all. It's too bad that it looks like his next project is a children's film called Joan of Bark. Are you kidding me, or is it really neccessary to conquer every genre? I mean Wag the Dog and State and Main were solid intellectual comedies, but they weren't great. I wish he'd stick to thrillers and crime dramas.

Give Heist another chance; I don't know what it was that killed it for you. I think it's worthy.

I think when the number of plot twists went into the double digits -- that's when it lost it's value for me. It's as if he made an entire film that said:

"Aha! I've got you!"
"No you don't! I've got YOU!"
Repeat at least a dozen times.

Plus, Heist's screenplay is the closest I've seen Mamet come to cliche. I'd be hard pressed to view it again ahead of so many other promising films I've yet to catch.

Has anyone seen the episodes of The Unit that Mamet wrote? I've never seen the show, so I'd be interested to hear what people think.

OK, forget what I say. You're a complete individual. You still might need to hear others, like I do occasionally.

Are you moderating the discussion string or just being overly sensitive? I addressed what killed it for me -- perhaps you could respond with what made it for you. That, or perhaps leave the next post to someone who would like to address the question I posed about the episodes of The Unit that Mamet wrote.

There is another "Mamet" film currently playing in theatres called EDMUND. Mamet didn't direct it, but it is based on an early stage play he wrote. Bill Macy, part of Mamet's stock company, is the protagonist. He's a guy who travels through his heart of darkness as he leaves his wife and seeks out something in Manhattan's demimonde. Lots of big name actresses have small roles as the women Macy meets on his journey. Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's real life wife, plays Macy's wife and she's in the opening and closing scenes.

I thought the film was a tad slight -- I don't even think its running time cracks 80 minutes -- and it kind of ends abruptly.

It was odd watching the film, because it clearly was written in New York City dark 1970s and 1980s before the crime rate went down and Disney moved into what once was a very seedy Times Square so it was kind. Because of that, the film felt kind of dated.