Movie Notes: House Of Games

June 29th, 2008

= 4 stars

Starring Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum
Directed by David Mamet

Synopsis

Psychiatrist Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse) is taken in by a group of poker-playing con men, led by the charismatic Mike (Joe Mantegna).

The Good

• Presents an interesting parallel between psychiatry and poker — a psychiatrist tries to deduce a patient’s mental state to help them, while a gambler does the same thing in order to win their money. In an early scene, Margaret shows her best poker face, betting a suicidal patient is bluffing.
• Cool plot twists — the cons become more elaborate as the stakes get higher. They’re psychologically based, pushing the film in the realm of the psychological thriller.
• Interesting variation on film noir, as the investigator is a female, and the biggest crimes are betrayal of trust — money changes hands willingly because of dupes, not a gun to the head.
• An early conversation between Margaret and her mentor discusses “lunch with a friend” and a “gold lighter.” Both subjects return by film’s end.

The Bad

• The acting is oddly subdued and disturbingly emotionless — characters feel rather coldly clinical like pieces moving across a chess board. Yes, I know the protagonist is a psychiatrist, but at least her moments of turmoil could have been more unhinged, and her growing emotional attachment to Mike, had it have been more emotionally convincing, would have improved the film’s biggest con. I’m not sure if this emotional detachment was intentional or Mamet’s inexperience as a director.

Conclusion

The film’s exploration of psychological profiling comes to a head in its final scenes — a large bet is placed on whether the “dupee” will figure out they’ve been had, and there’s a gamble as to what lengths they’ll go to exact revenge.

There’s no question Mamet wrote an excellent screenplay, but I wish a more seasoned director had taken a crack at it. Still, as far as simmering psychological thrillers and “twist” films go, House Of Games is definitely worth a rental.

IMDB: House Of Games
Wikipedia: House Of Games
Rotten Tomatoes: House Of Games 96%