Things Change (1988)

A Gem

I'd never heard anything about this movie, but I'm a David Mamet fan, so I decided to give "Things Change" a try. I'm so glad I did. This is a delightful comedy about a modest shoeshine "boy" who looks like a mafia man accused of a murder. Recruited by a mafia boss to confess to a crime he didn't commit, in exchange for money, Ameche (accompanied by Joe Mantegna) goes to enjoy a weekend in Lake Tahoe, before he has to submit to the police and go to jail. Two days - what could go wrong? Well, plenty - and there are plenty of laughs along the way. Ameche is a magnificent actor, who says little, but shows you everything with his face, and his expressive eyes. For a good time, I highly recommend this movie. November 15, 2007

David Mamet's best!

This is a sweet little film set in modern Mafia times in the US. Ameche [in what is arguably his best role ever] plays a poor shoemaker whose dream is to have a little fishing boat back in his village in Italy. When bumbling low-level wiseguy Joe Montagna offers him a sweet deal to falsely admit to a murder and do the time in exchange for the money to buy his boat, the plot is set.
But Montagna, sensing that something is wrong with the deal, sets out to give the old man one last fling, and so takes him [against his boss' express orders] to a Tahoe casino. While playing hooky, Montagna is recognised by an associate and must lie about his charge's identity, which sets the whole plot in motion. The pair wind up at a high-level Mafia conclave, where the old shoemaker's simple and guileless ways are taken for the wiles of an arch-strategist.
It's a poker game magnified to Machiavellian dimensions, and guess whose bluff is called. I won't spoil the endings [there are a couple of them], but suffice it to say that this classic film has a heart of gold, and is destined to be remembered as possibly the only comedy to be mentioned in the same breath as the great American opera, The Godfather. August 13, 2007

A GEM

6 STARS.
THIS IS A GEM OF A MOVIE. NO CAR EXPLOSIONS, NO, WELL, YOU KNOW. JUST A MARVELOUS GEM OF A MOVIE I NEVER GET TIRED OF. IT'S TOO BAD THESE AREN'T THE KIND OF CLEVER, THOUGHTFUL, WITTY MOVIES THE STUDIOS PROMOTE.
DON AMECHE'S LAST FILM.
FAB May 13, 2007

One of the great movies!

The subtlety and power of this movie are amazing. I like David Mamet anyway, but this script and the actors are just wonderful. February 11, 2007

My favorite David Mamet film of the 80's.

Things Change (1988) Actor Don Ameche continued his remarkable comeback in David Mamet's story of a naive shoeshiner who is roped by the mob into posing as one of their own. Joe Mantegna steals the film for me, as Ameche's reluctant minder. Glengarry Glen Ross gets better reviews, but this remains my favorite of Mamet's works. The chemistry between Ameche and Mantegna is terrific, and you'll be rooting for both as their journey heads towards a final, deadly resolution.
August 14, 2006

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