House of Games is a tale of confidence tricksters. It’s the first feature directed by David Mamet, the noted playwright and screenwriter who wrote Duck Variations and Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and penned the screenplay for de Palma’s The Untouchables. It’s a complex story, involving a series of consecutive and concurrent scams which I will not ruin by relating to you here. Certain parts of the plot, if you think about them, don’t entirely convince - but why think? It’s a movie that’s cleverly constructed and very well acted. Joe Mantegna is outstanding as the principle conman. The dialogue is great and the tension winds down only in the slightly stagy action scenes.