| Photos (see all 9 | slideshow) |
| William H. Macy | ... | John | |
| Debra Eisenstadt | ... | Carol | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Diego Pineda | ... | Quarterback (uncredited) | |
| Scott Zigler | ... | Clerk in Copy Shop (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| David Mamet | |||
Writing credits(WGA) | ||
| David Mamet | (play) | |
| David Mamet | (screenplay) | |
Produced by | |||
| Sarah Green | .... | producer | |
| Patricia Wolff | .... | producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Rebecca Pidgeon | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Andrzej Sekula | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Barbara Tulliver | |||
Production Design by | |||
| David Wasco | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Jane Greenwood | |||
Production Management | |||
| Dorothy Aufiero | .... | assistant production manager | |
| Michael Jackman | .... | post-production supervisor | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Cara Giallanza | .... | first assistant director | |
| Marge Piane | .... | second assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Sarah Alcorn | .... | assistant art director | |
| Andrew Bloomenthal | .... | art department intern | |
| Ezra Burke | .... | art department intern | |
| Ray Fisher | .... | lead man | |
| David Melito | .... | art department production assistant | |
| Kurt Smith | .... | construction coordinator | |
Sound Department | |||
| Tom Fleischman | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Peter F. Kurland | .... | sound mixer | |
| Freddy Potatohead | .... | boom operator | |
| Philip Stockton | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Ryan Webb | .... | boom operator | |
| Ryan Weiss | .... | sound | |
Casting Department | |||
| Carolyn Pickman | .... | location casting | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Kathy LaCommare | .... | assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Joel Diamond | .... | music producer | |
| Joel Diamond | .... | musician | |
Other crew | |||
| Randall Balsmeyer | .... | title designer | |
| Ken Butler | .... | stand-in: "John" | |
| Denise Cormier | .... | stand-in: Carol | |
| Alexander Westerman | .... | assistant to producer | |
| Michael Williams | .... | location manager | |
| George A. Parker | .... | projectionist (uncredited) | |
|
|
|
|
|
| Disclosure | Spider-Man 2 | The Phantom of the Opera | Starting Out in the Evening | A Beautiful Mind |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb UK section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
Unique, hyper-real film where the dialogue is the main plot - and what a rivetting plot it is. I was very skeptical about Oleanna, and was really resistant to it - but was very surprised to find myself succumbing to it. If you love language, and know enough language, Oleanna will be a joy for you: because the dialogue is loaded with jokes about dialogue. You'll be able to pick the places where Bill Macy is saying non-words, pretentious words or jargons in his monologues - and notice where somebody is talking ambiguously, or not saying anything at all.
Its about words, talking and meaning. So there are lots of words for good reason.
Its very dialoguey dialogue: not the kind of things people say, but the kind of things writers write. Reminiscent of the verbal gymnastics of Samuel Beckett, and the twisting meanings of Catch-22. Or perhaps the comedic pretentiousness of Hal Hartley. Meaning is controlled by the powerful - that's the key. Whoever controls the conversation, the language, in this movie - controls the situation. So everything is either ambiguous or figurative. Mainly, the exact things the two say are not what's key. Its which one of them is talking.
The performances - well, Macy at least - are in an appropriately hyper-real tone to suit the hyper-real dialogue. The girl is not very good, but this is still a masterpiece of language. Its static, centring on two characters and one room, but for good reason - to put the words centre stage. I'm so shocked that i just watched a movie with two characters and one room, and was not only not bored once, but hanging on each word and found that the time flew by.
The moral of the story is that things are bound to go wrong if you talk to somebody for the length of an entire movie. You're bound to go nuts. The viewer is bound to go nuts just listening to William H Macy in the first half-hour of the movie - you'll be amazed that purely talking to someone, using words, can make you feel that you're trapped, that you can't win or even escape.
Quite brilliant, really.
8/10. Essential viewing. I never knew dialogue held this power. A unique discovery.