Word: jayã
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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Among the film’s redeeming features are several outstanding performances. Delroy Lindo plays Bobby Blane, Moore’s earnest, loyal and dependable comrade-in-arms. Though his character is limiting and static, Lindo remains charismatic and likeable. Ricky Jay??s performance is also noteworthy; the Mamet regular portrays third man Don Pincus, a consummate professional who is willing to get hit by a car to buy his accomplices time. The soft-spoken Jay is elegant and convincing in a role that, though small, becomes very crucial to the plot of the film...
...Jay??s dexterity astonishes; watching him one feels not tricked by his feats but rather in awe of his abundant talents. When he cuts cards against an audience member who has drawn a two, he muses, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could cut a three?” He remarks matter-of-factly, “I can,” as he does precisely that. Soon after the show begins, the audience is convinced there is nothing Jay can’t do with a deck of cards. Jay proves...
...that Jay??s art is sleight of hand and his specialty is handling cards, in many ways, only incidental to the power of his performance. Most essentially, he is a master of words. His tremendous facility with language, his mastery of speaking rhythms and his effortless ad-libs all establish him as a classic raconteur...
...times, the flavor of his stories and the depth of his nostalgia recall Borscht Belt, the razor-sharp timing and perfect phrasing are pure Mamet. Jay??s skills at handling such material as well as their presence in the show attest both to the basis for the two men’s friendship and to Mamet’s directorial influence on the evening...
...among the last of a dying breed. In one moment of seemingly innocuous levity, he turns to an audience member and explains, “So I have to ask you to take a card. That’s all I do... in life.” In Jay??s pause there is more than good comic timing—there is the burden of truth. He is a grown man who plays with cards. This isn’t exactly an adult profession, and the era of the great card sharks has long since vanished...