Engrenages

Original title: House of Games

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

25K

YOUR RATING

Lindsay Crouse and Joe Mantegna in Engrenages (1987)

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91 Photos

Crime Drama Thriller

A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

25K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 6 wins & 5 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:06

House of Games

Photos91

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Ricky Jay was a sleight-of-hand artist and an acknowledged authority on the art of the con. In an NPR interview, Jay related that when David Mamet needed a short-change scam to be explained in the movie, he asked Jay for details of an authentic short-change hustle. However, Jay did not want to betray the confidence of the hustlers he knew who still used various short-change cons for their "livelihood". The envelope switch seen in the final film is an original switch invented by Jay specially for the film. Later, it was reported that an amateur thief had been caught attempting to use the switch as he had learned it from the film.

Goofs
Margaret Ford takes her smokes from a package of unfiltered "stubby" Camels, but the actual cigarettes she uses are longer (probably Pall Malls) so they'll "read" better on screen.

Quotes
Joey: The bitch is a booster.
Mike: The bitch is a born thief, man.
Mr. Dean: So, you had her made from the jump?
Mike: I'm tellin' ya. A ton of fuckin' bricks! Show me some REAL con-men.
Joey: Yeah, we showed her some con-men.
Mike: We showed her some DINOSAUR con-men. Some old style.
Joey: Yes, sir.
Mike: Years from now, they're gonna have to go to a museum to see a frame like this.
Joey: That's right.
Mr. Dean: Took her money and screwed her, too.
Mike: A small price to pay.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Surrender/Someone to Watch Over Me/Dancers/House of Games/Maurice (1987)

Soundtracks
Fugue
From "Toccata in C Minor (BWV 911)"
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Warren Bernhardt (piano)
[Played during both the opening and end credits]

User reviews155

Featured review

A rare gem

I knew nothing about this movie when I saw it on tv many years ago and had never seen 'The Sting' before seeing this. It's best to enjoy these type of movies without any prior knowledge, because if you knew anything about it before hand, you could work out the plot after 10 minutes. A movie that seems a straight forward thriller, but actually deals more with the desire to explore one's darker side. Mamet maybe made some of the plot twists seem a tad to obvious and doesn't quite manage to shake of a 'tv' approach, but that doesn't matter because Joe Mantegna gives a superb performance that lifts the other cast members above tv standard.

One of David Mamet's better movie efforts (like Untouchables, Spanish Prisoner and Glengarry Glen Ross), it's best knowing nothing about this movie before seeing it.

8/10.