Like moths to a flame, great actors gravitate to the singular genius of playwright-screenwriter David Mamet, who updated his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for this all-star screen adaptation. The material is not inherently cinematic, so the Glengarry Glen Ross's greatest asset is Mamet's peerless dialogue and the assembly of the once-in-a-lifetime cast led by Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec ...
Richard Gere is pretty convincing as a severe manic-depressive whose episodes of euphoria sometimes find him dancing on a two-by-four far above the street or climbing onstage during a symphony performance to "conduct" the orchestra. When the pendulum swings the other way, he is practically catatonic. As a character study, this film by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) has its truly compelling ...
L.I.E. features quietly electrifying performances from newcomer Paul Franklin Dano and criminally underrated veteran Brian Cox (best known on the big screen as the original Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter), as a neglected teenager and his paedophile acquaintance respectively. Fifteen-year-old Howie derives no support from the inept parenting of his widower father and instead seeks ...