On top of that is a really strange acting style I can barely describe except as "robotic." Mamet's wife Lindsay Crouse plays the main role, and everything she says is clipped and measured carefully. "Yes, I had a good night. I am going to leave now. Yes, in this taxi. This is my taxi, and I am about to drive away. Have a good night, please. Goodnight."
Everything is like that. It heightens the surreality of the whole venture to a fever pitch. The viewer always THINKS they are one step ahead of her, but you never really are. In an early scene at a poker game, they deliberately let Crouse believe she has discovered a con - the scene is fantastic and features a wonderful Ricky Jay - but even as you sit and think "ha, she thinks she is in the know, but something is up," little do you suspect that something is WAY up and there are about eight levels of con going on.
It's a hypnotic movie as well. It's metered out very specifically and carefully, with a deliberate pacing that refuses to give in to your desire to get a solution right away. It really helps the movie deceive you (and her). The way the movie identifies you with the woman, her journey becomes your journey. Or so you think.
The movie also has an interesting soundtrack full of xylophones that vibrate around eerily, and it looks interesting - a shadowy look full of blacks and reds and blues. The world is off-kilter and predatory, and it lets you know from the beginning to the end.
The cast is a murderer's row - Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay, David Caruso, J.T. Walsh, Mike Nussbaum, more. They all perfectly inhabit their universe of mixed sleeze and respectability.
It also features a wow ending that I refuse to spoil, but will highly recommend if you think you're interested in the kind of movie I've laid out so far.
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