David Mamet
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Spy Kids (2001)
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
influenced by House of Games (1987), The Winslow Boy (1999)
Themes
Rodriguez isn’t the first director of tough content to have a successful go at more wholesome fare: A couple of years ago surrealist David Lynch (Blue Velvet) made the gently uplifting The Straight Story (rated G), and cinematic con man David Mamet (House of Games) made the sweet The Winslow Boy (also rated G).
Rodriguez isn’t the first director of tough content to have a successful go at more wholesome fare: A couple of years ago surrealist David Lynch (Blue Velvet) made the gently uplifting The Straight Story (rated G), and cinematic con man David Mamet (House of Games) made the sweet The Winslow Boy (also rated G).
The Outfit (2022)
Directed by Graham Moore
influenced by House of Games (1987), Things Change (1988)
Dialogue Plot
The ingenious dialogue dominates, providing something akin to the early work of David Mamet (see 1987’s “House of Games” and “Glengarry Glen Ross”).
Leonard’s situation bears an even stronger resemblance to another Chicago gangster tale, David Mamet’s Things Change , with Don Ameche as a humble shoeshine man promoted to godfather status by comic accident.
In his feature debut, "In Bruges," he has made a remarkable first film, as impressive in its own way as " House of Games ," the first film by David Mamet , who McDonagh is sometimes compared with.
Focus (2015)
Directed by Glenn Ficarra
influenced by House of Games (1987), The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
Plot Themes
See “The Sting,” “House of Games,” “The Grifters.”
A romantic caper stocked with con artists, good looks but little sizzle, Focus is no Trouble in Paradise, House of Games or The Grifters.
If you enjoy movies such as “Matchstick Men,” “House of Games” or “The Sting,” then you’ll appreciate this one.
The best con artist movies - The Grifters, The Sting, Matchstick Men, David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner and House of Games - bamboozle the mark and the audience at the same time.
The tricks are as flashy as the plotting is flimsy in “Now You See Me ,” an illusion-filled caper from director Louis Leterrier that poses no serious challenge to Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige” or David Mamet’s “The Spanish Prisoner” in the pantheon of cinematic sleight-of-hand.
For at least one film, Scorsese has left behind much of his baggage and accomplished what David Lynch did with The Straight Story and David Mamet did with The Winslow Boy - use his considerable behind-the-screen prowess and apply it to a different kind of story.
In other words, After the Hunt is Oleanna 2.0, a muddier but no less reactionary modern spin on the issues that David Mamet once tackled in his polarizing two-hander about sexual politics and power dynamics on campus. Yet much like Oleanna, there’s a confrontational edge to the material that’s undeniably compelling, like getting sucked into a debate against your better judgment.
Like the never-explained "process" in David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner," it almost doesn't matter what the guys have created.
The way Sorkin has assembled the film, the timeline jumps between Molly’s court case (in the “present”) and the almost unbelievable backstory that brought her there (as reported in her memoir), but he’s a firm believer that her book ended just as things were getting really interesting, seizing her arrest and trial as a framing device for a story that’s otherwise an awful lot like “Rounders” or “House of Games,” minus the juicy con-man twists.
In that spirit, among the recent crop of heist films, The Italian Job is better than Frank Oz's The Score and David Mamet's Heist , but not nearly so good as James Foley's Confidence .
The Italian Job has occasional busts of smart dialogue ("There are [thieves] who steal to enrich their lives, and ones who steal to define their lives"), but not enough to elevate it to the level of David Mamet's most recent caper movie, Heist .
It's not quite "The Usual Suspects" or "House of Games," but then what is?
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced by State and Main (2000)
Themes
From early versions of “A Star Is Born” and the classic “Sunset Boulevard” to more recent films like “State and Main” and “Hail Caesar!” filmmakers have dealt with the hypocrisy, egos, and raw emotions involved in the movie business.
It's a genre that has been attempted by everyone including David Mamet, whose love of keeping his audience in the dark reached its apotheosis in Heist (2001).
AMERICAN HUSTLE joins the pantheon of great con job movies with “The Sting,” “House of Games” and “Wild Things.”
Ed "Braz" Brazzelton (Delroy Lindo, "Heist") is a former colleague of Zimsky's who allowed him to steal glory while he continued to develop new metal alloy that could withstand the earth's pressure.
Director Steven Spielberg crafts a breezy tale that takes its place alongside other memorable con chronicles such as "The Sting" and "House of Games."
They roll around Hollywood in a gold Cadillac to the sounds of “Sultans of Swing,” and the film suddenly turns into something more State and Main than Body of Lies .
It is easy to imagine that in a faculty office, David Mamet's " Oleanna " is taking place.