Written and directed by David Mamet. A heist flick! I guess people were more gullible before 9/11 and omnipresent internet scams but really, come on, Campbell Scott plays a sap. This is difficult to accept as he's developed "The Process" to extract untold gazillions from somewhere for the generic office space company in NYC headed by Ben Gazarra, and any such money funnel that I've ever had awareness of requires at least some minimal rat cunning. But Mamet is surrounded by cupidity and that's all he can think about.
Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) is tasked with capturing Scott's sexual interest with some vintage repetitive Mamet dialogue. I admired her commitment and wish she'd succeeded, and at something more worthwhile. Steve Martin plays a rich man, dramatically, humorlessly and ultimately ineffectually. P.T. Anderson regular Ricky Jay has all the weariness in the world. The ending left me hanging: was Gazzara in on it too? Was it turtles all the way down or did Takeo Matsushita really work for the FBI? If only Mamet had been as all-in as his wife.
Roger Ebert: three-and-a-half stars. I guess he felt this was a rug honestly pulled whereas I felt the misdirection was clunky and dated. A Critic's Pick by Janet Maslin. Mametese indeed. Hitchcockian. It put me in mind of Hal Hartley's far more successful artificiality.
