This is such a stylish, smart, fun ride that the implausibility of the conclusion and the Rube Goldberg machinations that were supposedly behind all the action can almost be forgiven.
Mamet never condescends to his audience with a lot of expository material -- you have to figure it out as you go (like the hero in the film) and that's a lot of fun.
The ending is a real Deus ex Machina mess, a quick explanation that explains nothing. If you try to imagine the Justice Department staff meeting where this plot within a plot within a plot was proposed and accepted you just laugh out loud.
But even that feeling is almost cured by the final, odd exchange between two of the central characters as one is loaded into a police van. Once again David Mamet's strength for fascinating characterization asserts itself.
Mamet never condescends to his audience with a lot of expository material -- you have to figure it out as you go (like the hero in the film) and that's a lot of fun.
The ending is a real Deus ex Machina mess, a quick explanation that explains nothing. If you try to imagine the Justice Department staff meeting where this plot within a plot within a plot was proposed and accepted you just laugh out loud.
But even that feeling is almost cured by the final, odd exchange between two of the central characters as one is loaded into a police van. Once again David Mamet's strength for fascinating characterization asserts itself.