Oleanna

David Mamet directed this screen version of his controversial two-character stage drama. John (William H. Macy) is a self-centered college professor preoccupied with his bid for tenure and negotiations for a house that he and his wife want to buy. Mary (Debra Eisenstadt), one of his students, comes ...more

Frustrated with the inability to pin it down as a film about feminism or American higher education or class differences or any other number of social and political themes, some simply criticized David Mamet's Oleanna as unclear and confused about its own intentions. But it is its grayness that makes Oleanna, just like its source play, such an outstanding film. The film deals with all of those issues, and its ambiguity toward them, like that in our everyday lives, is why it polarizes audiences ...more