"Hey, did you see the grosses for Gandhi 2?"

Last night I watched the pilot for the new series "THE UNIT" on CBS. The show is a Tom Clancy-esque look into the missions, and personal lives, of the men in a top-secret Army Unit (presumably Delta Force, tho its not named as such).

I actually liked the show quite a bit, though it wasn't perfect. It has a really solid leading cast in Dennis Haysbert (President Palmer of "24" fame), Scott Foley ("Felicity), and Robert Patrick ("Terminator 2," "X-Files," "Walk The Line"), and a pretty strong supporting cast, as well.

But what really struck me most about the show was the writing. There was something about the beats of the dialogue that was making me crazy, so I ran to my computer and pulled up IMDB within the first 15 minutes of the show. And sure enough, there it was.

Creator, Executive Producer, and writer of the Pilot: David Mamet.

For those of you not familiar with Mamet, he's an award-winning screenwriter and playwright, best known for flicks such as "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Wag The Dog," "State & Main," and "The Spanish Prisoner," amongst many other works. The style of dialogue he writes is difficult to describe, but it has a very specific beat to it. This kind of staccato pace that can be almost sing-song at times.

Its not nearly as noticeable in "THE UNIT" as it is in some of his other works, but its there. That beat. That rhythm. That stuffy, yet somehow realistic, style of dialogue.

I think Mamet's wife, actress Rebecca Pidgeon, embodies his style of writing. Her performances (especially of his work) are almost always that pitter-patter of spoken word. Sometimes it works perfectly, and other times its like nails on a chalkboard for me. It. Just. Feels. So. Freaking. Stilted.

Anyhow... Back to Mamet. I'm psyched to see him doing network TV, and am very interested to see where they take the show. I'm a sucker for military action, so the subject matter is great... But I hope it keeps that Mamet personality. I'd even like to see them up the humor quotient just a tad (I'm just talking in the interpersonal dialogue, here... I'm not looking for MASH II), because as "State & Main" shows, when Mamet goes for humor, he can hit homers.

Charlie

Keywords: David Mamet, The Unit, Dennis Haysbert, b movie, Siege, screenwriting, screenplay, scriptwriter