Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

American Buffalo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 16, 2015

There’s a rhythm to the dialogue of David Mamet, a syncopated momentum that at times makes what is said somehow less important than how it’s said. Mamet often arrives at his themes almost discursively, allowing his characters to soliloquize at length about seemingly irrelevant subjects, while a subtext slowly but surely forms for the patient and astute viewer (and/or listener). Monologue and/or dialogue as an assault tactic is firmly on display throughout the film version of American Buffalo, the play which helped to but Mamet on the map back in the 1970s, but which took two decades or so to matriculate to the screen. A “three hander” (and really in essence a “two hander”) that in its stage version is intentionally claustrophobic, American Buffalo would seem to have been more at home, cinematically speaking, in the independently minded decade of the seventies, rather than the somewhat more expansive, franchise driven last decade of the millennium, and that may account for a certain attrition that attends this film version. Aside from a few deliberate attempts to “open up” the proceedings, director Michael Corrente centers the production squarely on the dilapidated confines of a Chicago second hand emporium (the kind of place which euphemistically advertises “antiques”) belonging to a harried and downtrodden guy named Donny (Dennis Franz). Donny is even more harried and downtrodden than usual due to the fact that he believes he more or less gave away a valuable Buffalo nickel (hence the title of the outing), something that he’s newly sure is worth much more than the paltry sum he sold it for. Into this roiling psychological maelstrom enters Teach (Dustin Hoffman), a down on his luck street person who makes Donny’s shop his home away from homeless (so to speak).

Mamet pretends that American Buffalo is a caper or heist outing, when of course it’s nothing of the kind. Donny and Teach, along with a young acolyte named Bobby (Sean Nelson), concoct a scheme to retrieve the valuable coin, all without the slightest clue about either their mark (the high-falutin’, bike riding “elite” who bought the nickel) or in fact where the booty might actually be located. What’s actually in play here is a rather trenchant exposé of the underbelly of the American Dream. That Dream (always with a capital D, mind you) used to be identified, at least in part, by that vaunted concept of “home ownership,” but a tangential if subliminal add on to having a mortgage is filling that house with stuff, the “goods” of the so-called “good life.” The fact that Donny works in an environment “stuffed” to the gills with throwaways is just one way Mamet both depicts and skewers the supposed “nobility” of object acquisition.

The sad hilarity of American Buffalo is that Donny and Teach are in fact dreamers, albeit delusional ones. These are guys at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder who are smart enough to see the rungs of ascension clearly visible and yet maddeningly out of reach. The “lost” nickel serves as a McGuffin of sorts to encourage bouts of Mamet’s rapid fire dialogue, where these two banter about getting up and out, all while staying resolutely anchored to Donny’s junk shop.

Though he didn’t actually originate the role of Teach (Robert Duvall did), Al Pacino became inarguably associated with it due to his galvanic performance in the first Broadway revival (in 1983), as well as subsequent tours. Legend has it Pacino’s aversion to committing quickly to a project resulted in Dustin Hoffman finally taking over the role for the film version, and while those who saw Pacino perform Teach may be thrown for a bit of a loop by Hoffman’s characterization, there’s both (near lunatic) passion and surprising nuance in his performance. There’s an undeniable through line, subliminal though it may be, linking Hoffman’s Teach to Midnight Cowboy’s Ratso Rizzo. Both are hustlers on the make, but without the wherewithal to actually capitalize on their desires, let alone their dreams.

The real revelation of this film version is Dennis Franz as Donny. Franz, an Everyman of undeniable authority, is the Ego to Hoffman’s raging Id. Donny at least has his shop, as sad as it may be, but it’s a foundation built on sand, and once things start to go awry (as of course they do), Donny is left to flounder with only the questionable “talents” of Teach (and Bobby) to help pull him through. Franz delivers a titanic performance that is strangely noble while also unavoidably tragic.

Despite the fantastic performances and Mamet’s brilliant dialogue, American Buffalo never quite connects the way the original stage version does. There’s a bit of a distance on display here, one which offers a comfortable “demilitarized zone” between the characters and the audience, something that the stage version (at least the one I saw) managed to avoid. This is especially odd given Corrente’s predilection for extreme close-ups, but American Buffalo, for all its “kitchen sink” grittiness, may simply be too inherently theatrical to register completely effectively on the screen.

American Buffalo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

American Buffalo is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Elements have minor age related issues like dirt and flecks, but overall this is a nicely organic presentation, albeit one that's a bit dowdy and brown looking at times. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, director Michael Corrente and cinematographer Richard Crudo often exploit extreme close-ups (see screenshots 1 and 2), and those offer abundant detail and fine detail. Shadow detail is occasionally anemic in wider shots where some of the backgrounds of Donny's shop are swallowed in a slightly murky ambience. Grain is natural looking and presents no compression issues.

American Buffalo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

American Buffalo features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which more than capably supports the film's rapid fire dialogue, as well as the minimalist score from Thomas Newman. The soundstage is not exceptionally wide here, but with almost all of the film unfolding within the claustrophobic confines of Donny's emporium, that's not a problem. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range fairly narrow, on this problem free track.

American Buffalo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Trailer (480i; 1:50)


• MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (1080p; 2:06)


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Audio Commentary features Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman.

American Buffalo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

American Buffalo is another field day for Mamet's patented blend of scabrous humor, potent expletive laden rants and sometimes unexpected subtexts. Hoffman, while creating a character fairly far removed from Pacino's portrayal, is viscerally intense as Teach. The film's moral compass (such as it is) is undeniably Dennis Franz, however, and his portrayal is arguably the highlight of this film version. Technical merits of this Blu-ray are generally very good, and American Buffalo comes Recommended.