Mark Turner There are some plays and movies that are not about sitting there for 90 minutes or more just watching something that makes you laugh or tense up due to the action involved. Instead they offer an actor the chance to use the skills they have developed to bring life to a character, good or bad, that makes that character come alive. To watch that isn't necessarily something you watch for pure entertainment. It becomes a combination of that and being pulled into the lives of the characters on screen. Those actors become those characters.On top of that there are certain writers who can bring forth a story and screenplay (or play) that offers actors the chance to do just that. One of the most exciting of these is David Mamet. In numerous screenplays Mamet has provided actors with the opportunities to show just how great they can be. The language he chooses may offend but it is the language of the characters he is writing about. It's real.In 1996 two actors performed in a movie based on one of Mamet's hit plays, American BUFFALO. Both of them displayed such amazing jobs of acting that you come to a point where you have a hard time differentiating between what is real, what is acting, and what is a movie that you are watching. Between the written word and the sculpting of the characters both bring life to what could have been boring.Dennis Franz is Don, the owner of an inner city junk store and part time thief who has just learned of a possible big score. Having resigned himself to the daily grind of running this business he now has a chance to put something away, make a large haul for himself and for the person that tipped him off to the score, Bob (Sean Nelson). Having overheard a conversation at the nearby diner across the street, the two are making plans for this once in a lifetime deal.Into the pawn shop walks Teach (Dustin Hoffman). Teach is a professional criminal by trade, a small timer who talks big and who thinks he knows it all. Where Don has resigned himself to the daily life he leads, Teach constantly makes plans to be the big man on the block. He recites rules that should apply to all criminals and yet follows none. He might talk about how a smart crook knows not to share information while at the same time pressuring those around him to talk. Such is the case as he pushes Don's buttons trying to find out just what he's planning, what the score is. While punching up how great he is he tells Don that Bob is too young and unskilled to be a part of this score.Throughout the movie Don is on edge, wondering if they can pull off this burglary or not, wondering who he should trust, being manipulated by the fast talking and ever present Teach. He knows Bob is a young kid but is Teach someone he can actually trust? As the film moves forward the arguments back and forth, the discussions of what to do fill the 88 minutes we're watching with a sense of dread and concern for all involved. They may be crooks but they are also human beings. We watch as they crumble before us and hope that in the end things will turn out all right.The movie takes place in the junk store from start to finish with only a few moments with the characters stepping outside into the street taking place. It feels claustrophobic and tight matching the wordplay that goes on between the characters. What goes down between these three men in the course of one night makes for some tense moments and some fascinating back and forth dialogue that has you mesmerized from the start.I remember seeing this years ago when it first came out and thinking how boring it was. But I was younger than and unappreciative of the display of skill that was taking place by the actors on the screen or the dexterity of the written words that Mamet had woven together to create these three characters and their world. Watching it now I wish I would have appreciated it more at the time and now look forward to watching it again.Recently released on blu-ray from Twilight Time it shows their care in the choices they make to bring to blu. Extras, as are normally the case with Twilight Time, are limited but good choices none the less. An isolated score track, commentary track featuring film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman and the original theatrical trailer are what is offered.

Lee Eisenberg "American Buffalo" is definitely not a movie for everyone. A downer in every sense, it portrays three pitiful characters with nowhere to go in life. I guess that overall, there's little to be said about the movie. It's little more than a way to pass time. The whole thing has the distinct feel of a play (it all happens pretty much in one room), but Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz and Sean Nelson have little to do here. Still, it might make you ponder your own direction in life.I have to wonder about that coin featuring the buffalo. When you think about it, that coin went the way of the buffalo. Maybe I'm the only person who notices that.

vanessaguild Chock Full o' remarkably well acted, meat and potatoes' dialog,American Buffalo renders shades of , "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," in a satirical Forum. As the two main characters are masterfully fleshed out by Franz and Hoffman. This dialog is so tight that I manage to arm My own verbal arsenal with, what I deem as, "Social Pet Phrase Ammunition", in a single viewing! To draw on a few key points, has me doubled over with side-splitting laughter! Please pardon my allusion, yet you must see it - To relate. Further more you can set your Wrist Watch to the remarkable timing, captured on screen, of this Rare Duo's, seemingly natural, performance. Don't get me wrong, in terms of there being an absence of opposing thematic content towards plot. The acting definitely saves the movie. Although, it's probably not for your average movie goer. It's become one of my top 20 "Dialog driven" classical winners!This is a fine example of, "You don't need a billion-dollar budget to make a quality Motion Picture".

mattymatt4ever Watching this film on screen and on stage (I imagine) wouldn't be a hell of a lot different. It's still a 3-character film that revolves around the same setting--most of the time. But when you see great acting like this, how can you complain?? Dustin Hoffman is great at whatever he does, and he's perfectly believable as the foul-mouthed Teach. He has some of the greatest lines. My favorite is "Guys like that, I'd like to f**k their wives." He is rude and obnoxious with barely a sympathetic quality, but he's the guy you love to hate. I just recently started watching "NYPD Blue" and just from watching a few episodes, I can say that Dennis Franz is one of the best actors I've ever seen. He deserves to be on the big screen a lot more, because he has abilities as an actor that only few TV actors also possess. He delivers every line and every emotion with such power that your eyes are wide open with amazement every minute he's on screen. Even young actor (I assume he's now in his late teens) Sean Nelson is perfectly cast, blowing me away with a performance I'm sure very few young actors can pull off just as effectively. He only has about 20 or 30 minutes of screen time, yet he's the character you most feel sorry for at times, despite the fact that he lives an unclean life, dealing with thugs and earning his money via dishonest methods. You can just sense that he didn't have any parental leadership, and he wasn't sure what path in life to take, so he took the most easy one--and also the most dangerous one. In a way, the two guys are like his surrogate parents. I've never seen the play, but when I see the name "David Mamet" under the writing credits, I immediately know that I'm gonna hear some priceless dialogue. I don't know how he does it, but he just has a relentlessly quick wit when it comes to creating dialogue. Like a play, this movie is composed of 80 % dialogue, but the dialogue is so great that I don't really care if there's no exciting visuals. And last but no least, I loved the opening and closing theme song. It just has that grungy quality that perfectly fits the tone of "American Buffalo." If you're a fan of superb acting, this will be a real treat! A real treat! My score: 8 (out of 10)