House of Games 4 stars out of 5 stars

Tough to say why I liked this movie.Easier to say why I didn't.The end is not totally justified and is extreme however satisfying it may seen.Thus minus one star.The story is that of a grifter and his mark.Lindsay Crouse plays Margaret Ford a psychiatrist who becomes the "mark"of a smooth,and to her,very exciting grifter.Joe Mantegna plays Mike,the grifter who weaves a scheme by "planting"a patient in her office.This leeds her to believe the patient Billy Hahn played by Steven Goldstein,will be killed by a bookie.She goes to bar with him to pay off the bookie who turns out to be Mike.Mike talks her into watching him play cards and how to spot a "tell" in a card game.Of course it all goes wrong and she has to write a check to bail everyone out.However she realizes its all a scam and is furious but falls under Mikes spell and her own boring life.Falling in love with him only sets up a bigger scam against her.Then we learn that was the plan all along.Like a fish on a line she was slowly drawn into the elaborate scam by a totally heartless grifter,easily the lowest in movie history.However her boredom really allowed her to fall for it and well,I'm sorry as a educated "shrink"she should have seen it coming.It proves the old adage that theres always someone smarter than you so beware,especially in matters of love and money. In the end like "Hanna poring water on a drowning man"she just as coldly kills him with no remorse.The URL for the trailer is below the pix as usual. Release in 1987 it runs 102 minutes.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1275987737/