Love LaBute? Mad for Mamet? Well, let me introduce you to Michael Caleo.

For his first feature, writer/director Michael Caleo (The Sopranos, Rescue Me) cuts his teeth with The Last Time, a taut, twisty, black drama in the grand tradition of masters of cynicism Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things) and David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo).

In The Last Time, Michael Keaton plays Ted, the slick, scary, soulless top New York salesman for the perpetually-beleaguered Bineview Company. When young, optimistic, wet-behind-the-ears Jamie (Brendan Fraser) joins the sales team, Ted is forced to take him under his wing. As Jamie proves increasingly incapable of making a sale, Ted finds himself increasingly invested in helping him--thanks to his guilt over the torrid affair he's started with Jamie's gorgeous fiancee Belisa (Amber Valletta).

It's difficult to describe the plot in a way that adequately captures the tension and interest The Last Time brings to the screen. Suffice it to say that I am a total fan for stories of this sort. Even if discovering the twist at the end can never be as good as the first time you experience one of these guys' work, I absolutely love their impossibly black view of life and human nature. And I am delighted to say that Caleo is no exception.

The story is dark and tight, and Caleo shows an excellent understanding of one of the central tenets of cinema--showing characters', well, character, through actions and not through just talking about it all the time.

The best part of The Last Time, however, is the chance it gives its actors to shine--and shine they do. From smaller roles, like John, Ted and Jamie's boss (Daniel Stern) and the other salesmen (Neal McDonough, William Ragsdale) to the principals. Model/actress Amber Valletta (Premonition, What Lies Beneath) finally gets a meaty enough role to show that she is more than just a pretty face. And Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser are both superb, both undergoing substantial character transformations during the film. Keaton (Batman, Mr. Mom) strips layers from the quintessential arrogant sales shark veneer to the real, decent person he is inside. And Fraser (The Mummy, George of the Jungle) veritably falls apart before our eyes. Both are wonderful.

Did the ending surprise me? Not so much. But I still really like the movie, and I can't wait to see what Caleo does next.

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 The Last Time comes out in limited release on Friday, May 18, 2007.