Things Change

A crime comedy set in Chicago. Gino is an old shoe repairman. An Italian immigrant, quiet, and his whole dream is to buy a fishing boat one day. One day an offer comes. His face resembles a mob boss's and he is asked to take the blame for a murder. The payment is the price of the boat. He will serve a few years and nobody will touch him afterwards. He accepts. Jerry is a low-level man. He is in disgrace and is given the job of keeping Gino in a hotel room for the weekend. Jerry gets bored. Instead of keeping him in the room he decides to take him to Lake Tahoe, so the man can have a few good days. From there the film is a story of mistaken identity. The people at the hotel take Gino for someone important and word spreads. The local boss invites him. The man's silence is read as gravity, his not knowing as experience, and his strange answers as wisdom. What the narrative is interested in is not crime but conduct: Gino puts on no act; he simply behaves as himself and everyone loads a meaning onto it. The dialogue is short and dry. Mamet's known writing; the lines are clipped, repetitive, and the characters speak as if not listening to each other. Jerry's line carries the real emotional weight. He is wrecking a job across the weekend and goes on knowing what it will cost him. The two leads shared the best actor award at Venice. Don Ameche, Joe Mantegna, Robert Prosky and J. J. Johnston are in the cast. David Mamet directed and co-wrote. Who it is for: anyone who likes cool-headed crime comedy and Mamet's dialogue. Who it is not for: anyone looking for pace; the film moves very slowly and the humour is set to a smile rather than a laugh.