Twenty years old now, and first seen in New York with Madonna driving a wedge between two best buddies in the movie business, David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow has lost none of its bravura brilliance or ironic take on Hollywood creative morality.
In Matthew Warchus’s crackling revival, Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey prove the hottest double act in town. Bobby Gould (Goldblum) is a newly promoted studio mogul whose sidekick – they started out in the mailroom together – the desperate, dishevelled Charlie Fox (Spacey), has hooked a big star from a rival studio with the bait of a prison movie with lots of sex, violence and titillation.
The snap and urgency of the situation comes from the star’s insistence that the project is given the green light within 24 hours. This becomes a problem when the head honcho, the unseen Ross, disappears on other business and delays the decisive meeting until the next morning.
Goldblum is about eight feet tall and as elegant as a heron. His stage movement is fantastic, a sort of hip-swivelling shimmy with finger-clicks and fancy footwork while Spacey bounces around after him like an untrained puppy. I see a lot of Spacey’s hero, Jack Lemmon, in this performance, its slouch and panic-stricken small-mindedness. Hardly letting each other complete a sentence, the impact is electrifying.
Then, randomly baiting the new temporary secretary Karen (Laura Michelle Kelly) and riding a bet from Charlie that he won’t sleep with her that very night, Bobby throws her the book of another potential property, a novel by “an Eastern sissy writer” about radiation and the end of the world, and asks her to give it a “courtesy read”.
In the second of three long scenes – total playing time 90 minutes – Karen nearly changes Bobby’s mind and his life. She loves the book. She burns with its redemptive power. Shaken and disturbed – and laid – Bobby returns to the office and tells Charlie he’s switching horses.
Goldblum now looks like a man hit by a truck. And his pristine white office, in decorative transition of builders’ ladders and boxes of scripts, becomes a savage battleground as Spacey explodes in demonic fury. While the show’s main weakness is the lack of fire power in Kelly’s messianic central speeches – she looks absolutely gorgeous but is frankly over-parted – it soon recovers in this final, shattering section.
Rob Howell’s sleek design, lit with provocative extremes of shade and brightness, by Paul Pyant, matches the performances perfectly. Warchus’ revival is infinitely better than the National premiere in 1989 and more exciting than the West End version eight years ago. But I wonder why nobody thought of adding Mamet’s Bobby Gould in Hell (1989) as a coda – and an encore?
- Michael Coveney
Reader Reviews
Score
Comment
Date
Joesmith must have been day dreaming? Goldblum & Spacey were magnificent. Spacey in particular, in exquiste manic mode, gave out enough energy to light a small town so gawd knows what his carbon footprint must be like? lol! Perhaps, Laura Michelle Kelly could have produced something more interesting in her character, but maybe Matthew Wachus didn't want it that way? In anyway it didn't detract for me from the two star performers and an absolutely terrific one too from Spacey, one that will linger long in the mind. A not unsurprising sold out run that won't disappoint the punters.
- rds
23 Mar 08
Goldblum's mugging and dire attempts at upstaging and corpsing are a disgrace. This from someone who teaches acting. Mary Poppins is miscast and the show is entirely saved by Spacey's titanic attempts to hold it all together.Well done Kev! You get all the stars. - Joesmith
04 Mar 08
Tour de force performances from Spacey and Goldblum. Not so sure about Laura Michelle Kelly, Fight for a ticket!! - David
18 Feb 08
Even with all the interviews, reviews and buzz that there was to read for the past few weeks, I still wasn't sufficiently prepared for these exhilirating performances. Enigmatic yet forceful. Charming but rough. Probably was partially autobiographical for them but still very imaginative and creative. Spacey and Goldblum are magical together -- it was a brilliant pairing. An unforgettable night and one of the most exciting theater experiences ever had. These guys can challenge themselves to do anything and I couldn't admire them more. I didn't want it to end and I could have sat there for another show before going home. - Abigail Fox
17 Feb 08
Even with all the interviews, reviews and buzz that there was to read for the past few weeks, I still wasn't sufficiently prepared for these exhilirating performances. Enigmatic yet forceful. Charming but rough. Probably was partially autobiographical for them but still very imaginative and creative. Spacey and Goldblum are magical together -- it was a brilliant pairing. An unforgettable night and one of the most exciting theater experiences ever had. These guys can challenge themselves to do anything and I couldn't admire them more. I didn't want it to end and I could have sat there for another show before going home. - Abigail Fox
17 Feb 08
Speed-the-Plow benefits hugely from two towering performances from the principals. Jeff Goldblum is initially cocksure in his new promoted role but brilliantly conveys his insecurities and doubt about whether he should now be making "good" movies. Kevin Spacey has no such doubts and is wired to a dangerous frenzy. He also points up how inadequate Christian Slater was in Spacey's role in Swimming With Sharks. This is a much better play about Hollywood but the quality of the performances and the brilliance of the rapid-fire dialogue cannot disguise the fact that Mamet does not have anything new to say about the movie business. Also: it only last 90 minutes, is a midweek matinee too much to ask for? - David Baxter
14 Feb 08
What is it with musical actresses transferring to plays? I agree with the other comments here, Laura Michelle Kelly's stiffness was highlighted by the fluency between Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey. Like Janie Dee in Shadowlands, she seemed hampered by a fake American accent. Surely there must be better actresses who could have fitted between the two stars more comfortably? - Sue Stanley
14 Feb 08
Goldblum and Spacey are fantastic, but the play sags severely in Act 2. (In fact I'd be tempted to cut it completely and go straight from Act 1 to Act 3.) Laura Michelle Kelly is bland and utterly overwhelmed by her co-stars. Her voice is so unappealing I rapidly switched off whenever she spoke: it was rather like the teacher in "Snoopy". Still, 4 stars just on the strength of two out of three wonderfully charismatic performances. - Quentin
13 Feb 08
The high score is really for the acting abilities of Goldblum and Spacey. Their machine-gun delivery is exhilerating to witness and will not be easy to forget. Goldblum has great comic timing and has charisma oozing from his pores,while spacey plays the funny, edgy, sometimes scary character that we have seen many times on screen. A truly great combination that leaves you wanting more.
The down points would have to be the second act that is between Goldblum and Kelly. First of all, Kelly seems to be in awe of her situation of being on stage with two seasoned actors. She's supposed to be seducing Goldblum, but she doesn't convey that at all. Secondly, the book that just has to be made into a film due to its shear greatness, sounds just plain dull and there are lots of quotes from this book that are confusing to say the least.
So, would I recommend you go see this play? Yes, but only for the acting masterclass of the two leads, if not the story itself. - Peter Daly
13 Feb 08
Superb - the contrast between the tall, poised Jeff Goldblum and a jumpy ever-moving Spacey was excellent. The speech was so fast - each talking over each other yet the audience picking up every clever nuance. I didn't want it to end - and what a surprising last scene. - Jenny Hornsey
10 Feb 08
Superb - the contrast between the tall, poised Jeff Goldblum and a jumpy ever-moving Spacey was excellent. The speech was so fast - each talking over each other yet the audience picking up every clever nuance. I didn't want it to end - and what a surprising last scene. - Jenny Hornsey
10 Feb 08
Superb - the contrast between the tall, poised Jeff Goldblum and a jumpy ever-moving Spacey was excellent. The speech was so fast - each talking over each other yet the audience picking up every clever nuance. I didn't want it to end - and what a surprising last scene. - Jenny Hornsey
10 Feb 08
A few weeks ago I was in despair that the many young people in the audience for Absurd Person Singular would be put off theatre for life by that museum piece. Last night at the Old Vic I felt the exact opposite. Again, many young people in the audience - no doubt thanks to the Old Vic's generous young person's pricing - but this time likely to be converted to live theatre for life. This isn't Mamet's best play, but in the hands of director Matthew Warchus and this cast of three it feels like it. The realistic dialogue in this satire on Hollywood overlaps and crackles like gunfire. Rarely do you see a partnership so electrifying as Spacey and Goldblum. They generated an atmosphere in the theatre that resulted in roars, gasps and outbreaks of spontaneous applause. No doubt the critics will think differently, but there can be no doubt what the audience thinks - terrific. - Gareth James
06 Feb 08
Saw this on its first night (1st Feb) and was very impressed. Jeff Goldblum is excellent (though maybe a little too charming and likeable to be a Hollywood producer) while Spacey is his usual outstanding self as a nervy and sweating subordinate. My only issue is with Laura Michelle Kelly who doesn't seem to read the text as fluently. Anyway, well worth seeing. - addicted to theatre
Whatsonstage.com - London & the UK's
biggest and best discount theatre ticket and theatre news and reviews service. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best
for London theatre tickets.
