Things Change (1988)

This film was co-written and directed by David Mamet which immediately guarantees that one will find a literate script.  It stars Don Ameche as a fallguy for the mob (he's a poor shoeshineman who's told he will get a wad of money if he confesses to a murder) and Mamet-regular Joe Mantegna (on probation with the mob) as his weekend baby-sitter.  Mantegna decides to waft off to Lake Tahoe where by insinuation he passes Ameche off as a big-time hood.  The complications follow from there.  Ameche's old-world dignity plays off well with Mantegna's modern craftiness and the affection that develops between the two is palpable and by the end heart-warming .  There are also some early roles for J.T. Walsh and William H. Macy, both way down the cast list.