American Buffalo
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Cititour.com Review
When you think of a Mamet play, one usually thinks "electric" but the latest revival of “American Buffalo,” the second Mamet play (after “Speed-the-Plow”) in revival this Broadway season, offers more of a fizzle than a full blown lighting rod of explosive power.
The play has a strong legacy. Originally on Broadway with Robert Duval, it was then revived with Al Pacino. This current production places John Leguizamo in the pivotal role of Walter in this three-character play about a junk shop owner, (Cedric the Entertainer) and his assistant (Haley Joel Osment) who scheme to steal a rare coin. The characters are aptly sleazy and dark and Santo Loquasto’s cluttered and dingy set, along with Brian MacDevitt’s dusty lighting, give the piece the right sense of musty debris - a clear metaphor for these unproductive lives.
Cedric the Entertainer (in his Broadway debut) has a powerful presence and his booming voice gives weight to the subject at hand but his delivery never wavers. Haley Joel Osment, also making his Broadway debut, is merely serviceable. And while Leguizamo’s Walter is appropriately erratic, and displays a short fuse, he never seems terribly menacing.
Director Robert Falls hasn’t added enough suspense here and the intricacies of Mamet’s words which reflect a deeply rooted feeling of mistrust and suspicion never culminate in a satisfying conclusion in this production of “American Buffalo.”
By Lesley Alexander
Cast
John Leguizamo, Cedric the Entertainer, Haley Joel Osment
Open/Close Dates
Opening 10/31/2008
Closing 11/24/2008
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
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