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"American Buffalo" was a ground-breaking play by David Mamet. But 21 years after its premier, it became a movie with 59-year-old Dustin Hoffman. The play captured the tensions of two frustrated men anticipating a burglary they'll perform that night. Could the same intense dialogue work in a filmed adaptation?

The beginning of the film shows the director wrestling with that question. An exterior shot at the beginning establishes the run-down neighborhood where Donny runs his junk store. But because it's an exterior shot, the actors' dialogue has to be dubbed from a separate recording session. Dustin Hoffman, a committed method actor, has trouble synchronizing his speedy monologue to the frantic motions he uses in the scene. Once the story moves on to the film's indoor set, the performances become more effective.

The film still ran into problems, with Dustin Hoffman in a role that Al Pacino had played to much acclaim when he was in only his '30s. Hoffman's low-key, nice-guy everyman seems to lack some of the intensity that the part demands. The character, "Teach," simmers with resentments from his very first monologue about a snub by Ruthie the waitress at a nearby diner. He's a schemer and a hothead, and a young and reckless personality is probably a better match.

The film's plot handed the director another challenge. Mamet's play features very little action, masking a battle of wills between Teach and Donny in a long, ongoing conversation. Director Michael Corrente was able to eliminate the claustrophobic single set of the original stage play - but he still had to include the characters' long arguments.
It might also have been a mistake to cast Dennis Franz (from "NYPD Blue") as Donny. His stoic and ordinary personality lacks the menace that would give some edge to their verbal jousts.

As both a play and a movie, "American Buffalo" has always been an exercise in dialogue.
Some find it exasperating, while others applaud the dialogue's "naturalism," capturing the way men speak more with emphasis and implication than their actual choice of words. Each redundant sentence finds its way to surprising new meanings. ("I go out there. I'm out there every day," Teach says. "There is nothing out there.") Ultimately "American Buffalo" is a challenging film - but its gives audiences a chance to watch actors grappling with Mamet's material.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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