In regards to the plot, a movie producer named Gould is debating with his friend and colleague the importance of money versus art. Though the two agree that it is "art" that is most important, it is clear that money is what rules both of their lives. The rising action occurs when Gould bets his friend that he won't be able to have sex with his new secretary. In order to bed her, Gould gives her a book that was given to him as a "courtesy read". The woman falls in love with the book and its message and convinces Gould to throw away his cynical view on art and Hollywood and produce the film.As is typical with Mamet, the script is filled with swears and at times confusing conversations in which the characters talk extremely fast and cut each other off. The power of the entire play is centered on three characters. Though the plot sounds tragic, it is also comedic. As is typical with Mamet, he pushes all of his characters to the extreme while still allowing them to possess an excellent sense of humor. Unlike other plays, the comic relief is built into the script and does not take place in its on separate scene or plot line. Instead, the characters are both tragic and comedic and have to embody other aspects.www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com
This was Mamet as his funniest. I usually consider him to be someone who exposes the really dark sides of life, and his man-woman interplay was as it usually goes here, but but the dialogue (it's a play, all of it's dialogue) was really hilarious and playful. It brought to mind the era (80's film/hollywood culture) strongly, but also older-hollywood: I often thought of both American Psycho, which you might expect, and something like the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink, which is another film about the Hollywood Struggle and what it does to a man.Overall a fun, fast read, and I'd love to see it performed.
What do You think about Speed-the-Plow (1994)?
Though I was a fan of Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow lacked the same kind of edge-of-your-seat feeling. With this play, I didn't find myself as engaged with the characters' struggles - indeed, about halfway through I found myself not really caring about the crisis of each individual character. The dialogue is sharp and witty (very Mamet-esque), but the plot just didn't grab me. Perhaps it is a play that is better seen onstage, or maybe this play just hasn't aged well in the 20 or so years since its release.
—Ari
David Mamet's somewhat engaging take on the truth and sliminess involved in the Hollywood movie business. Mamet should know what he's talking about, of course, having worked in Hollywood as a both a screenwriter and director. Yet all of the classic "Mamet-isms" and all of the verbal sparing and regurgitation can't make "Speed The Plow"'s rhetoric any more than what it is...a simple story of ambition and vulnerability. Yet the question is...do you buy it? Do you buy the fact that...say, a powerfu
—Paul Lyons
