Some films are worth watching more than once, as you pick up different layers each time. I would argue that House of Games is one of those. It was released in 1987, and yes, for those hunting for 1980s dating elements, there are some shoulder pads - but frankly, they fit the rather severe, controlled persona of the main character, psychiatrist Margaret Ward.
You can IMDB the details - things start rolling with Ward's interest in the underworld of confidence games and her connecting with Mike, a self-professed con man.
If you want to watch a film about delving into the shadows - encountering The Shadow - this is a good one. The environment is dark. The plot moves forward in back rooms. The main characters are criminals, people who operate outside the rule of law. Nothing is as it seems.
There is some great Shadow elements to the dialogue as well:
Mike to Dr. Ward: "There are many sides to each of us. Good blood. Bad blood. Somehow, all those parts have got to speak. You know what I'm talking about."
Mike to Dr. Ward: "And you learned things about yourself that you'd rather not know. I'm sorry for that."
***********************
Aside: one of the people Dr. Ward and Mike, her con man mentor, take advantage of (they "borrow" his hotel room and bed for a time) is a broker for E.F. Hutton. This little detail was cute then (money laundering, near-collapse), and, interestingly enough, because E.F.Hutton was absorbed by Citigroup, it's cute now.
TO SUBSCRIBE via EMAIL:
1 comments:
I'm fascinated by what the Wikipedia entry says about neglecting/ignoring the shadow--that when we do that, we start projecting it onto other people. That's so interesting, and may be the seed of a new blog post!
Post a Comment