Stupendously good screenplay.

Hugely entertaining (& original) film this. The dialogue was terrific of course (as one could expect from the director). I also appreciated the intertextuality (references to Hamlet etc.) and the allusion to Karl Marx towards the end in reference to 'quantity being aligned with quality' was choice- so funny. I think the cast was fine, Palminteri shone as the belligerent tough with the panache for writing and I especially liked how, in the beginning, him and Cusack are at loggerheads but slowly form something of an unlikely companionship through their shared desire for the play to be an overwhelming success. 8.1/10