This is David Mamet's directorial debut. He is one of my favorite filmmakers, and this is one of my favorite films by him. Many of his films seem like intricate puzzles, which both the viewer and the participants have to figure out. This is the greatest of his puzzles. It also has the most effective ending he has ever filmed. Not bad for the first time out.

Lindsay Crouse (Mamet's then-wife) plays a famous psychiatrist who helps people get over their addictions, but she can't seem to find meaning in her own life. One of her clients, a gambling addict, challenges her to help him out of the fix he is in because he is on the verge of suicide. She agrees, then learns that the bad guys are going to kill him because he owes thousands of dollars that he can't pay. She goes to the House of Games, a seedy dive where the loan shark hangs out, to argue for her client's life. There, she meets Joe Mantegna, a cipher, a slightly smiling crook who seems to be able to see right through her. She discovers that the client didn't owe as much money as he told her, then takes part in a scam, only to discover that she was the intended target. She is attracted to Mantegna, though, and is interested in learning how he operates, supposedly because she wants to write a book about con artists. He takes her into his world, gets her involved in trouble she never dreamed of, and falls in love with her. Or does he?

That's the genius of this film. We already know that Mantegna is a con artist. Crouse falls head over heels for him, seeming to discard her training as a psychologist. Isn't she supposed to have some insight into human nature? The film is about her learning how little she really knows. Does Mantegna have an agenda? He shows her potentially damning evidence that he's a criminal; it might be because he likes her. I will leave you to figure that out. The ending, though, is going to be a shock, no matter how you think you have the film figured out.