Product Details

• Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz, Sean Nelson
• Directors: Michael Corrente
• Writers: David Mamet
• Producers: Gregory Mosher, John Sloss, Sarah Green
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: March 7, 2000
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305812241
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,813 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

David Mamet's hit play from the 1970s has made it to the screen with its grim humor intact. The story of a robbery that never actually happens, the three-character drama focuses on a set of small-timers looking for a big score: Donny (Dennis Franz), who runs a junk shop; his jittery young assistant, Bobby (Sean Nelson); and Teach (Dustin Hoffman), a card-playing pal of Donny's with a nose for a shifty deal. Donny has accidentally sold a rare buffalo-head nickel to a customer not realizing what it's worth, and so he and Bobby are planning to steal it back--and Teach wants a piece of the job. Mamet's trademark testosterone-fueled jabber is less about crime than about the ways men talk to--and at--each other. Hoffman is grungily appealing as a guy who always goes a step too far, while Franz brings a quiet power to his role as a man who always knows more than he says. --Marshall Fine

From The New Yorker

David Mamet's angry, acid 1975 play has finally been brought to the screen, by Michael Corrente, whose reverence for the original is such that his movie still feels like a play. Dennis Franz is the junk-shop owner, Dustin Hoffman his disillusioned friend, and Sean Nelson the young gofer who wants to join them in a crime. Apart from one cloudburst of violence at the end, the characters do little except talk; the whole film feels cramped and airless. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Your Face, October 14, 2000

By 

Absurdist Ad Nauseam (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Buffalo [VHS] (VHS Tape)

To say that David Mamet has an ear for language and an eye for human interaction would be an injustice to this ingenious playwright/screen writer, for he transcends even the most astute observor. Few stage plays adapted for the screen maintain their integrity, but "American Buffalo" is the exception. The intensity of this movie is further heightened by the superior acting of both Hoffman and Franz. Many an aspiring actor/playwright could benefit from viewing this outstanding film.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intense Performances in a world that only Mamet can present, April 24, 1999

By 

"thedude" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Buffalo [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The performances in this film keep it above the average fare. Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz, and Sean Nelson all give terrific performances in this character study of those at the bottom. Many complained that Hoffman acted in a retread of Ratso rizzo, but I say Teach is a much different character. It is a shame that, to paraphrase Entertainment Weekly, films such as Pulp Fiction and Usual Suspects have softened the impact of the language used in this film, but the words act as violence, gaining intensity. Profane but also powerful. Mamet creates a brilliant view of the world through these character's eyes. Michael Corrnete's direction attempts to make it cinematic by allowing the action to breathe from the confined stage settings, and mostly succeeds. (That is the reason why I give 4, not 5 stars) It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it is a fantastically acting and engrossing story. Bonus: Thomas Newman's score is fantastic and perfectly compliments the mood of the film.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Friendship, February 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: American Buffalo (DVD)

"American Buffalo" is a rare example of the theater play adapted from stage to the big silver screen. Watching it, you might have an impression that you watch your TV. Fortunately, the quality of the disc is one of the best I have ever experienced. Unlike your average TV program, the image is crisp and the sound is superbly engineered. Not to mention that there are no ads to divert you from what happens on the stage.

And there happens very little. As expected, the plot is designed to go on in only one room, the junk-shop, and there are basically two actors, with the small guy thrown in from time to time. Hoffman and Franz engage in a prolonged, fast dialogue with their stage potential showing off much more than in any action movie they participated in during the last decade. Quite fast into the play, we get to familiar with their personalities. Not only the script helps us in that, but also their mimics, their body-language. And this play is all about personalities.

What will long-time male friends do if confronted with external money-earning possibility? Will one let another to the secret? Will they share the task? The answer seems to be mutual trust. We are no angels, however, and some of us are short-tempered, testosteron-full, irritable, restless, self-unappreciating, blabbering life-losers. Some of us are stoic, trusting yet suspicious, naive, irritable life-losers. Hoffman masterly portrays the first type, and Franz illuminates the second.

Have you noticed the use of gadgets? The junk items and furnishings of the shop play an important role, indeed. Hoffman, while talking non-stop, touches them, moves them, looks at them without looking, concentrating on the words he speaks. Sure that this feature is overdrawn here, exaggerated. But have you thought whether you touch items while talking to others? It helps us concentrate if we are insecure and restless. On the other hand, this irritates our interlocutors beyond description. Franz does not really care about his items for sale or anything else for that matter. He is irritated by Hoffman, by his personality, incompatible with his own, disconcerted by Hoffman's inability to stay calm. He fight the irritation in the name of friendship.

The same applies to the dialogue - they get mutually irritated at each other. They challenge themselves with accusations, play these little instruments in ourselves that force men to stand up and go for something that pure reason advises against.

In the end, what matters is the friendship. People who have found themseleves in a situation where trust plays an important role - may have difficulty with loyalty. The bottom line is that some things are valued more than others. Friendship.

In summary, I have been delighted to watch this play adapted for the silver screen. It's so much different than the rest of movie production. It's refreshing, spirit-uplifting and very, very well-played. Outstanding!!!