House of Games (1987)

Regisseur:

David Mamet

Drehbuchautoren:

Jonathan Katz (story) &
David Mamet (story) ...

Premierendatum:

11. Oktober 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Krimi | Mystery | Thriller

Werbezeile:

Nothing is as it seems.

Plot:

A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led my a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.

Plot Keywords:

Undercover Cop | Sharpster | Grifter | Con | Card Game

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

Yell at the Screen Awful

Besetzung

Lindsay Crouse	...	Margaret Ford
Joe Mantegna	...	Mike
Mike Nussbaum	...	Joey
Lilia Skala	...	Dr. Littauer
J.T. Walsh	...	The businessman
Willo Hausman	...	Girl with book
Karen Kohlhaas	...	Prison ward patient
Steven Goldstein	...	Billy Hahn
Jack Wallace	...	Bartender, House of Games
Ricky Jay	...	George / Vegas Man
G. Roy Levin	...	Poker player
Bob Lumbra	...	Poker player
Andy Potok	...	Poker player
Allen Soule	...	Poker player
Ben Blakeman	...	Bartender, Charlie's Tavern

Alternativ:

Haus der Spiele (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

102 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Finland:K-14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Drehorte:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Firma:

Filmhaus

Dies und das:

Ricky Jay is a sleight-of-hand artist and an acknowledged authority on the art of the con. In an NPR interview, Jay related that when David Mamet needed a short-change scam to be explained in "House of Games", he asked Jay for details of an authentic short-change hustle. However, Jay did not want to betray the confidence of the hustlers he knew who still used various short-change cons for their "livelihood". The envelope switch you see in the final film is an original switch invented by Ricky Jay specially for the film. Later, it was reported that an amateur thief had been caught attempting to use the switch as he had learned it from the film.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: Towards the end of the film, Margaret Ford returns to her private office and cuts herself. Several drops of blood fall on the cover label of a dossier lying on the desk. In subsequent shots, the blood stain jumps down the label and finally ends up on the back cover, leaving the label clean.

Dialogzitate:

Mike: What'd you do, win again?
George: That's right. If you wanna win the hand, you've gotta stay in 'til the end.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt Animal House (1978)

Soundtrack:

Fugue from the Toccata in C Minor

Yell at the Screen Awful

Here's a review for people like me. This movie sucks from beginning to end. I threw popcorn at the screen and resorted to entertaining myself a la MSF2000. The plot hinges on chance happenings and relies on stupidity from people who are supposed to be smart. The lead falls for a con man and it doesn't occur to her that she might get conned????? And she's rich???? And she's a famous psychologist????? COME ON, people. She enters the bar at just the most convenient moment when everyone is assembled to talk about conning her??? That was so staged that it felt like slap in the face to even half-witted movie viewers. Rain man would have been insulted. I also admit that I despise Mamet dialogue with the kind of passion that some people have for meat-eaters, war-starters, and fur-wearers. My hatred is so complete that it defies logic. But I'll give it a shot. That it's not supposed to sound real is fine. I don't care. It's that everyone talks the SAME. Mamet can't create characters; all he can do is foist his voice on us relentlessly through different actors. No wonder his actors are so wooden. They're confused about everyone being the same character. (However, his later films do improve.)