Speed The Plow

Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum

“Is there such a thing as a good film which loses money?” asks money "whore" Bobby Gould in Matthew Warchus’s Speed the Plow. This sets the tone in David Mamet’s pacey, uproarious work pitting commercialisation against morality

Jeff Goldblum ( Bobby Gould )  and Kevin Spacey ( Charlie Fox ) are two money-grabbing Hollywood film producers.
The pair play off each other skillfully, their energised double-act is almost animalistic as they excitedly discuss plans for their next film in Mamet’s trademark quick-fire dialogue.
Goldblum gives a mesmerizing performance as he wrestles with the dilemma of making a film for art or for entertainment.

Spacey’s Charlie is a little unsure at first but he soon gets into the swing, not missing a beat as the slave to commerce.

Laura Michelle Nelly is Karen, Bobby’s seemingly naive secretary ( a  role made famous by Madonna in the  play’s 1988 premiere on Broadway.)
Mamet is often criticised for his simple female characters but as the plot unfolds Karen reveals a sense of cunning beneath her image as an innocent young broad. 

Kelly holds her own in this star-studded cast and bewitches Bobby with her feminine wiles, as she persuades him to produce an apocolayptic arthouse film based on a book about the world’s final destruction -  instead of Charlie’s trashy blockbuster. 

In an  almost holy vision  Karen, dressed in white, is a stark contrast to Bobby, in sombre  black, as she preaches to him about the fear and decay of modern society.

But we are reminded that in Hollywood even the pure ingenue has her own ambitious interests and that the iron fist of commerce has the power to stamp out creativity.

Some critics have criticised Mamet’s play as unoriginal.
But although it may not tell us anything knew, surely that is the point. Twenty years ago Speed-the-Plow had real resonance.
And perhaps in today’s society saturated by reality tv and celebrity worship over quality and integrity it is even more relevant.

Laura Balfour

Speed-the-Plow, The Old Vic, The Cut, London, SE1 8NB, tickets

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