Main Cast: J.T. Walsh, Don Ameche, Joe Mantegna, Robert Prosky, J.J. Johnston, Ricky Jay
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 114 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Perhaps it was his collaborator Shel Silverstein who said to screenwriter David Mamet "Lighten up. Do a comedy." Whatever the case, Things Change was a welcome change of pace for Mamet, both as scenarist and director. Don Ameche also goes against his usual grain by playing a downtrodden Chicago shoeshine boy (if one can call an 80-year-old a "boy") who is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Not having much of a future anyway, Ameche has agreed--for a hefty sum--to take the rap for a gangland rubout. Mob henchman Joe Mantegna is assigned to keep an eye on Ameche over the weekend to make sure he doesn't try to weasel out of his agreement. Mantegna has been ordered to remain in Ameche's Lake Tahoe hotel, but the young guy takes a liking to the old loser. Like Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Mantegna takes Ameche on one last fling around Nevada. The location photography is terrific, and Ameche even more so. One would like Things Change to be equally as good, and while it never comes up to its potential, it remains a pleasant means to while away 100 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
This gentle fable marked a departure from the stark moralizing and often opaque characters of writer/director David Mamet's other films and plays. Mamet co-wrote the screenplay with poet and cartoonist Shel Silverstein, and at times two main characters seem like stand-ins for the writers themselves: Joe Mantegna's callous, pragmatic gangster is Mamet incarnate, and Don Ameche's impish scapegoat is not unlike one of Silverstein's cartoon heroes. As a director, Mamet allows his camera to take in a bit more scenery than usual, and the flat delivery that he imposes on his performers works surprisingly well in a comedy. Ameche's performance is equal parts Marcello Mastroianni and Charles Chaplin: alternately profound and quizzical, he never plays the role merely for slapstick laughs. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Mike Nussbaum - Mr. Green; Dan Conway - Butler; Willo Hausman - Miss Bates; Gail Silver - Housemaid; Len Hodera - Ramone; Josh Conescu - Bellenza; Merrill Holtzman - No Pals; Adam Bitterman - Marcotti; Steve Goldstein - Randy; Sarah Ekhardt - Cherry; Karen Kohlhaas - Grace; Robert Bella; Dick Cusack; Vincent Guastaferro - Kenny; Felicity Huffman; William H. Macy - Billy Drake; Natalia Nogulich; Lionel Mark Smith; Jack Wallace - Repair Shop Owner; J.T. Walsh - Hotel Manager; Scott Zigler
Credit
Ned Dowd - Associate Producer, Nan Cibula - Costume Designer, Ned Dowd - First Assistant Director, David Mamet - Director, Trudy Ship - Editor, Randy Ostrow - Location Manager, Alaric Jans - Composer (Music Score), Michael Merritt - Production Designer, Juan Ruiz-Anchia - Cinematographer, Michael Hausman - Production Manager, Ned Dowd - Producer, Michael Hausman - Producer, John Pritchard - Sound/Sound Designer, David Mamet - Screenwriter, Shel Silverstein - Screenwriter
Gino is a humble shoe-shiner living in Chicago who is contacted by a mafia don and offered a large sum of money to take the rap for a murder committed by another gangster. Gino agrees, planning to buy a fishing boat with the money he will earn after the 3-5 year sentence. While preparing for his court confession, Gino is watched over by Jerry, a bottom-rung gangster who has recently gotten into trouble for failing to follow orders. After a short and boring stay at a local motel, Jerry decides to break orders and give Gino one last weekend to remember at Lake Tahoe before his prison sentence. After arriving at their casino, Jerry's tall tales and Gino's quiet dignity quickly get Gino mistaken for a wealthy and powerful mafioso, leading to complications for both men.
