This is an adaptation of a play by David Mamet. He also directs. Unusually it does not feature con artists, a favourite area that Mamet likes to re-visit.
The film where a family wants to clear the name of their almost 14 year old boy who has been dismissed from the naval academy for stealing a postal order is all about performances, there is very little visual trickery but good use is made of sets, lighting, music and direction.
The actors are very much at the fore of the performance with Jeremy Northam as the Barrister delivering the goods as someone who believes in the boy's innocence but seems distant and uninvolved.
In some cases he got the role of the barrister in the pre World War 2 era very much spot on. It is all about the law and proving your case.
Nigel Hawthorne does well as the father of the family who might be on the edge of financial ruin as he fights to clear his son's name. It might be viewed that Hawthorne would be too old to play a father of a 14 year old lad although his other children are older.
Rebecca Pidgeon who in other roles comes across as uninspired especially when she plays tough Americans is more comfortable here as the radical sister of the accused. She also suffers loss as her engagement is broken because of the fight to clear her brother's name.
It is a brave undertaking to adapt a Terence Rattigan play for the big screen and Mamet has done very well in making the film watchable and highlighting the mores of the time.
The film where a family wants to clear the name of their almost 14 year old boy who has been dismissed from the naval academy for stealing a postal order is all about performances, there is very little visual trickery but good use is made of sets, lighting, music and direction.
The actors are very much at the fore of the performance with Jeremy Northam as the Barrister delivering the goods as someone who believes in the boy's innocence but seems distant and uninvolved.
In some cases he got the role of the barrister in the pre World War 2 era very much spot on. It is all about the law and proving your case.
Nigel Hawthorne does well as the father of the family who might be on the edge of financial ruin as he fights to clear his son's name. It might be viewed that Hawthorne would be too old to play a father of a 14 year old lad although his other children are older.
Rebecca Pidgeon who in other roles comes across as uninspired especially when she plays tough Americans is more comfortable here as the radical sister of the accused. She also suffers loss as her engagement is broken because of the fight to clear her brother's name.
It is a brave undertaking to adapt a Terence Rattigan play for the big screen and Mamet has done very well in making the film watchable and highlighting the mores of the time.