May 26, 2012

David Mamet in Pictures

by Mallory Potosky | Published May 9, 2008

There isn’t anyone quite like David Mamet, the American writer who brought us such films as the steamy 1981 remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice and the groundbreaking 1996 film American Buffalo. More than just a screenwriter, Mamet has brought his characters to life on screen as a director and on stage as a Tony Award-nominated playwright.

This week, as audiences prepare for his latest directorial effort, Redbelt, MM revisits some of the work that has made him the moviemaker we know today.

The Untouchables

Together with director Brian De Palma and composer Ennio Morricone, Mamet crafted a confident look into the era of Al Capone (played by Robert De Niro) and the man who tumbled his empire, Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner). Despite a healthy opening weekend box office, the movie wasn’t entirely well-received upon its initial 1987 release. The stylized drama, also featuring Sean Connery who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Chicago beat cop-turned-Untouchable Jim Malone, is more a visual examination of moviemaking than a dialogue-driven one, as is typical of other Mamet movies. In his review, Roger Ebert pointed out that the film “doesn’t have the Mamet touch, the conversational rhythms that carry a meaning beyond words. It also lacks any particular point of view about the material and, in fact, lacks the dynamic tension of many gangster movies written by less talented writers.”

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Comment by salman on 5/14/08 at 2:53 pm: pictures calletion
Comment by jia on 7/12/09 at 11:15 am: The New York Times called this film “David Mamet’s craftiest and most satisfying cinematic puzzle Tiffany