movie: "american buffalo", anyone see it?

dorkkarl

saw this movie at blockbuster, dustin hoffman, dennis franz (2 actors i really like), & sounds like the movie revolves around a buffalo nickel. considered renting it - is it a good movie? i would have got it, but the kids already had too many picked out. commments/reviews?

K S

LucyBop

OT ALERT! OT ALERT!

dorkkarl

it's supposed to be about someone stealing a coin collection

K S

LucyBop

Oh... gosh, now I feel like the DORK! Guess I live on your street Daddy-o!

jonesy

Do not rent this movie for the kids!! It has lots of very harsh language in it. It does revole slightly around a 3legger, but the movie is more about criminal activity and a pawn shop.
Glenn

dorkkarl

hey dorky-bop - you can just call me lucykarl!

K S

dorkkarl

ps: thanks for the language warning. sounds like i'd have to watch it after the kids are asleep. is the movie any good though?

K S

csw

I liked it. It's more like watching a play than a movie--it's really an exercise in dialogue rather than, say, imagery. (By that I mean obviously a lot of work went into writing the dialogue and practicing it.) In that sense it clearly tried to be an 'artsy' movie rather than your typical heist film or action film. Hoffman wants to steal a coin collection, yes, but the movie is really about the dynamics between him and his buddy (Franz), an owner of a pawn shop. As I said, I liked it, but it has precious little to do with coin collecting, unfortunately.

--csw

Clankeye

David Mamet who wrote it, cut his teeth as a respected American playwright. In fact, if memory serves this was written as a play, and he turned it into a screenplay also. Mamet has had a part in some mainstream Hollywood stuff, like The Untouchables (as a screenwriter), but some of the movies which are taken from his stage plays are very good. Not for everyone--stylized, dialogue driven--but very good.

Clankeye

lordmarcovan

I thought it was OK. Not fantastic, but not bad, either. Worth a look for you when the kiddies are off to bed.

Another one I remember was one called "Twenty Bucks". Not a coin, but the movie followed the travels of one particular $20 bill, and the people who used it. That was pretty neat. It was on one of the cable movie channels and I only caught the last half to two-thirds of it. If I could find it to rent, I wouldn't mind watching the whole thing. It was an interesting premise, anyway. As I recall, it was rated-R as well.

Striker

The movie "Twenty bucks" was pretty interesting. Like already stated it shows the life a 20 from the printing to the end. Pretty much how when I look at my coins and wonder who has held it and what stories it could tell, this movie tells the entire bills life. I haven't seen "American Buffalo" but sounds like it might be worth a few bucks to rent it.

Clankeye

The better Mamet movie is Glengarry GlenRoss. Made into a movie from his play. Stars Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemmon. It's about life as a real estate salesman--and it's wild. I think it could very easily be transposed to the world of boiler room coin sales. Very interesting, rough edged, intelligent movie.

Clankeye

sinin1

I liked "Getting Even With DAD" - where the crooks not only stole coins, but they were slabbed and from PCGS - Macauley Culkin and Ted Danson.

lordmarcovan

I seem to recall there was a movie where Steve Martin is a bachelor who lives a lone, hermitlike existence and hoards gold coins, and then adopts a little girl. He hid the coins under a false tabletop, as I recall, and they were his secret joy until the little girl came along. Seems like the coins were in slabs?

lordmarcovan

Ah, yes. Here 'tis.


Steve Martin in "A Simple Twist of Fate", (1994)

The gold coins made the movie stick out in my memory. As I recall, the camera showed them clearly enough to ID types, if not dates. Might have been an otherwise forgettable movie, but as I recall, it wasn't that bad.

coindaughter

Here's your Steve Martin hording gold coins movie.

coindaughter

DANG! You beat me to it!

lordmarcovan

Thanks- looks like you found it about the same time I did.

construct

I liked American Buffalo a lot. The performances are terrific and nicely understated (as you would expect from Franz and Hoffman). Mamet made a reputation for himself by turning the rhythms of street-language into music. This movie is a good example of that. The R-rating is for the language alone--on the level of say Goodfellas or Reservoir Dogs, but in a much quieter tone of voice. These guys just can't get through a sentence without using these words to keep the rhythm going.

The part where Franz tries to explain the importance of grade for the value of a coin is very funny. Yes, rent it. You won't be sorry.

dorkkarl

the steve martin movie, i have seen, & liked it (independent of the coins). the lib's were raw (looked like) uncs that were in a tray that was part of the false bottom of a desk drawer. earlier in the movie before that scene, martin actualy graded a coin , i think "ms-63"

i will try to get the buffalo movie this weekend. thanks for the helpful comments

K S