Search - House of Games on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity Movie Release: 1987 DVD Release: 12/19/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 41 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 9 Genres: Thriller, Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller See Also: House of Games [Criterion Collection]

In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who owes heavy gambling debts. When she herself is the victim of a con, she becomes intrigued by the psychological drama of the con game and joins in a complicated scam involving a suitcase of cash. Mamet directs his extremely complicated plot with skill and complete control until it is impossible to tell who is the con and who is the victim. The suspense builds to an amazing surprise ending which is both reasonable and believable but completely unpredictable. Crouse and Mantegna are outstanding as are all the supporting performances. Mamet and his cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia create a visually stunning, compelling film that does justice to Mamet's superbly written screenplay ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Lindsay Crouse - Dr. Margaret Ford
Joe Mantegna - Mike
Mike Nussbaum - Joey
Lilia Skala - Dr. Littauer
J.T. Walsh - Businessman

David Mamet's striking directorial debut House of Games comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is preferable in every way to the standard full-frame image. English, Spanish, and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible, and the English soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer. This is a solid release from MGM/UA that boasts excellent picture quality. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide