The director of American Buffalo might as well have had the actors perform the movie on a stage and filmed it like he would a play; the movie felt like a play. Mamet's dialogue might work in the theatre but in the world of film it is contrived at best and seems designed so that the intelligentsia can pat themselves on the back by chortling at the right spots. A.B. is Mamet at his most pretentious and merely proves that lovers of the playwright will sit through his self-congratulatory ... and try to read an insight into his material in order to prove to themselves that they haven't been deceived--that good old David is some witty commentator on society.

But he is not. Mamet is merely the decadent mouthpiece of bourgeois society and American Buffalo, like most of his films, offer no real societal critique and are intelligent only in the way a first year philosophy student in love with Nietzsche is intelligent. The man should stick to writing for the stage since theatre--the perfect medium for pretentious bourgeois art--is the last bastion for pretentious artists like Mamet.

And there happens very little. As expected, the plot is designed to go on in only one room, the junk-shop, and there are basically two actors, with the small guy thrown in from time to time. Hoffman and Franz engage in a prolonged, fast dialogue with their stage potential showing off much more than in any action movie they participated in during the last decade. Quite fast into the play, we get to familiar with their personalities. Not only the script helps us in that, but also their mimics, their body-language. And this play is all about personalities.

What will long-time male friends do if confronted with external money-earning possibility? Will one let another to the secret? Will they share the task? The answer seems to be mutual trust. We are no angels, however, and some of us are short-tempered, testosteron-full, irritable, restless, self-unappreciating, blabbering life-losers. Some of us are stoic, trusting yet suspicious, naive, irritable life-losers. Hoffman masterly portrays the first type, and Franz illuminates the second.

Have you noticed the use of gadgets? The junk items and furnishings of the shop play an important role, indeed. Hoffman, while talking non-stop, touches them, moves them, looks at them without looking, concentrating on the words he speaks. Sure that this feature is overdrawn here, exaggerated. But have you thought whether you touch items while talking to others? It helps us concentrate if we are insecure and restless. On the other hand, this irritates our interlocutors beyond description. Franz does not really care about his items for sale or anything else for that matter. He is irritated by Hoffman, by his personality, incompatible with his own, disconcerted by Hoffman's inability to stay calm. He fight the irritation in the name of friendship.

The same applies to the dialogue - they get mutually irritated at each other. They challenge themselves with accusations, play these little instruments in ourselves that force men to stand up and go for something that pure reason advises against.

In the end, what matters is the friendship. People who have found themseleves in a situation where trust plays an important role - may have difficulty with loyalty. The bottom line is that some things are valued more than others. Friendship.

In summary, I have been delighted to watch this play adapted for the silver screen. It's so much different than the rest of movie production. It's refreshing, spirit-uplifting and very, very well-played. Outstanding!!!