Review of Oleanna

“That was the end!” was the phrase I yelled when the credits started to roll. It definitely was not the response that I usually express at the end of movies. I typically express a feeling of fondness or aversion. Instead, I found myself less concerned with how much I liked the movie and more concerned with sympathizing with the professor and trying to understand the complexity of his position.

One thing I noticed that David Mamet did with the film is that he made the two main characters in this film switch positions almost entirely from the beginning to the end. At the beginning of the movie, Carol says, “I don’t understand,” many times while the professor attempts to teach her something. By the end of the movie, the professor confesses that he too can learn and at one point even exclaims, “I don’t understand!” The professor begins as a person in power and authority over Carol and her future (she argues that professors that give poor grades to students are often the reason that they don’t get into a medical school that they deserve), but by the end, she is the one with power over him and his future.

Another thing I noticed that David Mamet used in this film is the telephone. Every ring was an opportunity for the professor to get himself out of trouble. Instead, the professor chose to stay with the troublemaker, Carol. If the professor would’ve left the office in response to the first call, his entire situation may have been avoided. Instead, he created the opportunity for Carol to step in and ruin his life.

During Carol’s first visit to the professor’s office, I found her character very irritating. I also admit that I didn’t like the professor very much either. While he was rude and interruptive, so was she. It seemed, though, that her interruptions were more intentional and annoying while his were naturally accidental and rude. Despite the rude nature of the professor, I didn’t notice anything out of character about him that would make him seem any different from a stereotypical college professor. However, there were a few things out of the ordinary I noticed about Carol. Her character seemed somewhat fake. I first thought it was bad acting or a poorly written script. However, after seeing the whole film, I think that the initial phony quality to her character was deliberate. I believe that, from