Wo bitte geht's zum Knast (1988)

Wo bitte geht’s zum Knast: Directed by David Mamet. With Don Ameche, Joe Mantegna, Robert Prosky, J.J. Johnston. Shoe-shiner Gino is hired to take the rap for a mafia murder. Two-bit gangster Jerry watches over Gino and gives him a weekend to remember.

“Mamet is not an unalloyed mastermind in my book. He hits and misses.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHere, he (and Shel Silverstein) crafted a story that explores a few clever plot concepts, such as the vaguely u0026quot;Inspector Generalu0026quot;-style false-identity gimmick. No spoiler, there: It kicks in pretty early on and dominates things for most of the flick. Most of the comedy/tension of the flick revolves about that idea.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe truly touching stuff involves the ensemble work, and itu0026#39;s worth taking the flick in of an evening just for that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOther than that, the structure/storyline of the flick is about 80% good, but about 20% sprinkled with confusing side-events that donu0026#39;t quite seem to mesh.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMamet and Silverstein tried to engineer a truly compelling denouement, but it doesnu0026#39;t feel quite whole and organic and… compelling, to me. Itu0026#39;s merely adequate, in my book.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut if you want to see truly inspired acting, driven by adequate direction, check it out.”