OLEANNA (1994) Teacher gets taught a lesson

My introduction to David Mamet's unique style of writing and direction was a very cool flick about the art of the con called HOUSE OF GAMES (1987). If you like plots with twists and turns, you gotta see this movie! My next Mamet experience was OLEANNA, based on the director’s own two-character play. I love dramatic pieces in which characters reveal themselves through dialogue, and nobody’s dialogue is more revealing, and at the same time enigmatic, than Mamet’s, especially in OLEANNA. It’s about tha battle of wit and intellect between a university professor John (William H. Macy) and a female student Carol (Debra Eisenstadt), who is failing his class. Following a series of conversations in the professor’s office which go from harmless to brutal, Carol files charges against John, including sexual harassment, thus wrecking his chance for tenure. This forces the distraught professor to make a choice on how to handle the situation, and the results lead to a shattering finale. The final six-word exchange is pure Mamet: (John) “Oh, my God.” (Carol) “Yes, that's right.” (Trivia note: The woman singing over the end credits is Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, who originated the role of Carol on stage alongside Macy, and who co-stars in several of her spouse's films, including HOMICIDE, THE SPANISH PRISONER and Samuel Beckett's CATASTROPHE.)