Ever since "Twelve Just Men", including such pieces as "Death of a Salesman" (not the Hoffman version which I have not seen, I refer to a version way back in the 60s) or the tremendous "Whatever happened to Baby Jane?" and more recently "Peter's Friends", there has always been a certain appeal to me for theatre pieces converted into celluloid versions especially if the job is well done. I think we can add "American Buffalo" to this list. May be it does not have the British subtlety for theatre, but at least it gives us an indication of where North American theatre has been going ever since Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller. With only a cast of three obviously the accent is on interpretive skills; I can't help thinking Dennis Franz, in the rôle of a sleazy junk-shop owner and small-time criminal, gets the better of Dustin Hoffman, who tended to overact the difficult part of a no-good bum-parasite from time to time during the film. The third member of the cast, Sean Nelson, plays his part of an adolescent doing odd jobs around the shop more or less with correctness. Full marks for Michael Corrente's directing, but who really gets my vote is David Mamet whose dialogues (from his own play) are excellent - if one can overlook the (necessary?) use of strong language and well handled by both Hoffman and Franz.
Review of American Buffalo
