Roger ebert house of games

She used to appear with him in a baffling trick where they exchanged places, handcuffed and manacled, in a locked cabinet. I asked her how it was done. The divorce and her feelings meant nothing compared to her loyalty to the magical profession. She looked at me coldly and said, "The trick is told when the trick is sold. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from until his death in In , he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Lindsay Crouse as Margaret Ford. Joe Mantegna as Mike. Mike Nussbaum as Joey. Lilia Skala as Dr. Walsh as Businessman. Jack Wallace as Bartender. Reviews House of Games. Roger Ebert October 16, Now streaming on:. Powered by JustWatch. Now playing. The Wasteland Nick Allen. Citizen Ashe Odie Henderson. King Car Simon Abrams. She grows excited. She knows they can win the hand. The Texan shoves his whole pile into the pot. Mantegna can't cover it. Crouse offers to write him a check. He gave her his confidence, and she gives him her money.

Oh, the movie is a lot more complicated than that. Don't think I've given away too much I will give away nothing more. I like the way the mechanics of the con provide the surface of the story the Kings and Queens , while the real story is about how the woman's libido is urgently aroused by the thrill of being included in a con.

Later, she and Mantegna enter another man's hotel room, and walking through that forbidden door operates on her like violent foreplay. It is crucial to the mechanics of the story that every scene is observed only from her point of view. Mamet's dialogue starts with the plain red bricks of reality, and mortars them into walls that are slightly askew.

Nobody uses a word you don't know. They like vulgarities and obscenities and cliches. But the dialogue is rotated into a slightly new dimension; it is mannered a little, and somewhat self-consciously assembled, as if the speaker is dealing with a second language or an unrehearsed role. That makes us listen more carefully.

There is a line near the end "You're a bad pony. And I'm not going to bet on you" that, coming when it does and how it does and why it does , has a kind of sublime perfection.

It is the final taking back of the gift of confidence. The game is over. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from until his death in In , he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Lindsay Crouse as Margaret Ford. Walsh as Businessman. Mike Nussbaum as Joey.

Joe Mantegna as Mike. Lilia Skala as Dr. Jack Wallace as Bartender. Reviews Great Movies House of Games. Roger Ebert October 31, Now streaming on:. Powered by JustWatch. Now playing. Sing 2 Peter Sobczynski. The King's Man Brian Tallerico. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Skip to content. Who or what can we believe anymore? Is this our post-modern nightmare? Mamet captures the infinite problems within our daily lives. Ebert writes: This fraudulent offering of trust underlies one Mamet film after another, and yet is never repetitive because it unlocks unlimited dramatic possibilities.

Goffman, a groundbreaking sociologist, compares con men to white-collar criminals: The con differs from politer forms of financial deceit in important ways. Goffman describes it this way: When the blowoff comes, the mark finds that he has no defense for not being a shrewd man. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like this: Like Loading Previous Big House, U. Next Start the Revolution Without Me.

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