Joe Moore has a job he loves. He's a thief. His job goes sour when he gets caught on security camera tape. His fence, Bergman, reneges on the money he's owed, and his wife may be betraying him with the fence's young lieutenant. Moore and his partner, Bobby Blane, and their utility man, Pinky Pincus, find themselves broke, betrayed, and blackmailed. Moore is forced to commit his crew to do one last big job.
Writing
Mamet's machine-gun dialogue, all false starts and hidden knives.
Acting
Hackman's weary gravitas against DeVito's weasel king energy.
Direction
Mamet's deliberate anti-style, every shot a trap.
Director
David Mamet
Gene Hackman
Joe Moore
Danny DeVito
Mickey Bergman
Delroy Lindo
Bobby 'Bob' Blane
Sam Rockwell
Jimmy Silk
Rebecca Pidgeon
Fran Moore
Ricky Jay
Don 'Pinky' Pincus
Patti LuPone
Betty Croft
Robert Lussier
Fast Food Cook
Mark Camacho
Jewelry Store Guard
Michelle Sweeney
Waitress
Elyzabeth Walling
Jewelry Saleswoman
Mike Tsar
Coffee Cart Man
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ricky Jay was a legendary magician; Mamet wrote Pinky specifically to showcase his card-handling skills without dialogue.
The Swiss bank heist was filmed in a real decommissioned bank in Montreal; Mamet refused to stylize it, insisting on fluorescent-lit mundanity.
US
