China Doll, “bolstered by Mr. Pacino’s star power, has been selling very strongly at the box office, but there has been some skeptical early buzz about Mr. Mamet’s play and Mr. Pacino’s performance, and the delay will both lengthen the amount of time the team has to work on the project before critics weigh in, and reduce the effect of reviews because they will run later in the play’s limited run and after the traditionally lucrative Thanksgiving weekend.”