House of Games

Dir: David Mamet, 1987 (9.1*)
Just about the perfect con-artist film. Mamet’s wife Lindsay Crouse plays a psychiatrist who writes books, and lets a client know she’s doing one on con-games and their perpetrators. She is then swept into their world by Joseph Mantegna, and gets far more than she bargained for. That's Ricky Jay doing the card tells, technical advisor for Mamet on his con-artist films, and usually given a part. This complex thriller gets you deeper and deeper into the plot until there’s barely room to get out. My favorite script of Mamet's.