AMERICAN BUFFALO Reviews- Page 2

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 12:53am

It seems like the overriding complaint with reviewers so far is that it's not traditional Mamet.

I think that was completely intentional. One reviewer said that nothing happened, but when I saw it, I felt that was kind of the point: nothing happens in these men's lives, and nothing will ever happen. They are resigned to the small, petty lives they lead. The plodding, pause-filled delivery of the lines and action reinforce that. The characters know they're not going anywhere. I got the impression that the events were nothing special -- they happen every day.

If you go in expecting typical Mamet, you'll be disappointed. If you go in with an open mind, you might enjoy it. Maybe it's just me, but I thought it worked.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 1:21am

WAT, that was rather uncalled for, don't you think?

I mean, really ... Why call *me* out?

Sure, I'll happily champion a show, but I came out and said it first-thing, this production of AMERICAN BUFFALO isn't 'excellent' -- Yes, I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't call the acting that takes place onstage 'marvelous'. Am I pleased I saw it? Sure, why not. I got to see Leguizamo live for once. Would I see it again? No. It was an afternoon at the theatre, what else do you want me to say?
Updated On: 11/18/08 at 01:21 AM

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 2:05am

I haven't seen the show so the following is a hypothetical comment. Any director who goes in and tries to un-Mamet a Mamet play is taking a tremendous risk that it won't work. The playwright's style and intention should govern, especially when they are so so peculiar and consistent. Why work against them?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 2:21am

sooo, wonkit, you haven't seen the play, and a poster on bww opines that the director "un-mamets" the play? Now, i don't really have an opinion yet, but whether i like it or not, i think FALLS's bway resume and work that i've seen in the past, speaks eons to me above anyone else's opinion on this board. not everything is a work of genius. some is, some not.

http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=14741
Updated On: 11/18/08 at 02:21 AM

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 11:14am

Tiny - I specifically said it was a hypothetical question.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 11:20am

It's like trying to un-Shakespeare Shakespeare. (I'm not saying Mamet is Shakespeare, but he is a genius in his own respect. They're two separate beasts entirely.) It might work; it might not. The critics clearly did not enjoy this very different approach to Mamet. It doesn't mean anyone is wrong for disliking it. The script and material is still excellent. I think this is the same of the revival of ALL MY SONS. It's a VERY different approach to the material. Some people find it excellent (myself being one of them) and some people think it's absolutely horrendous. Art is meant to be viewed in different ways and if Robert Falls thought this was how he wanted to approach the material, the way it is is how it was intended to be: a different approach to a classic playwright.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 11:40am

The Bergen Record is Very Positive:

http://www.northjersey.com/entertainment/stage/34629524.html


The Daily News gives the show 2 Stars out of 5:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/11/18/2008-11-18_american_buffalo_not_worth_a_wooden_nick.html


The Journal News is Mixed-to-Negative:

http://www.lohud.com/article/20081118/ENTERTAINMENT/811180311/1186/Entertainment0801


The New York Post (with Barbara Hoffman) gives the show 2 Stars out of 4:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11182008/entertainment/theater/barely_worth_a_plugged_nickel_139242.htm


NY1 is Mixed-to-Negative:

http://www.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/theater_reviews/89124/ny1-theater-review---american-buffalo-/Default.aspx


Time Out New York is Positive:

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/theater/68977/american-buffalo


The Wall Street Journal is Mixed-to-Positive:

http://online.wsj.com/article/theater.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Updated On: 11/22/08 at 11:40 AM

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 11:43am

John Simon is Mixed-to-Negative:

The play is skillfully directed by Robert Falls, who has choreographed some arresting movements and imposed fascinating changes in tempo and dynamics. The actors squeeze everything possible out of their parts, Cedric, for example, managing to say “No” in peculiarly layered ways. There is even a vocal trio in the interplay of Cedric’s rumbling bass, Leguizamo’s whining, high-pitched tenor and Osment’s overeager or anxious countertenor.

But put it all together and it spells blather of the peculiarly Mametian brand, in which obscenity and scatology sprout like mushrooms in damp, shady ground. Cut out the foulmouthed verbiage and the play would be appreciably shorter but hardly better. It might even lose what specious colorfulness it has.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601098&sid=abUPNFCke2Hc&refer=movie


Newsday is Mixed-to-Positive:

Cedric the Entertainer, making his Broadway debut, plays Donny, the shop owner, with a stable presence but not enough roiling subtext to the dialogue. As Bobby, the young junkie first played in Chicago by Macy, Haley Joel Osment - yes, the boy who saw dead people in "The Sixth Sense" - has a sweet, haunting neediness as a slacker who appears to recognize a kind of death in himself.

What catapults this out of routine, however, is Leguizamo's Teach, the head hothead and show-off loser who pretends to know how to steal a prized buffalo-head nickel. The actor, who made his name onstage as a monologist, rants himself into the top shelves of motor-mouth Mamet specialists. His Teach is part silly wabbit, part sociopath, a preening rooster who chews gum with his mouth open and seems unaware of the nervous energy that makes him both fun and a fright.

http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/exploreli/ny-etent185930597nov18,0,6099499.story

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 11:48am

REVIEW ROUNDUP

Bergen Record
Very Positive

Time Out New York
USA Today
Positive

Newsday
Wall Street Journal
Mixed-to-Positive

AM New York
New York Post
Mixed

Daily News
John Simon
Journal News
NY1
Mixed-to-Negative

New York Magazine
Negative

Associated Press
Variety
Very Negative

New York Times
Pan

Updated On: 11/22/08 at 11:48 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 12:16pm

I realize that they're only short clips, but the clips of the show on the show's website look pretty good.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 1:15pm

That POST review starts off really angrily...for no reason.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 1:23pm

I stand by my original opinion. I had a thoroughly satisfactory afternoon in the theatre and was glad to have a chance to experience a Mamet play I'd never actually seen before. Perhaps if I'd seen Pacino do it, I would have reacted differently.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/18/08 at 6:12pm

This is Mamet's weakest play & that what the reviews reflect.