Andrew Worsdale Movies of the week
I once worked at Film Fun, renting out 16mm movies. With a host of films to choose from, my favourite was Norman Jewison’s The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson. A gambling movie set in New Orleans in the 1930s, I must have watched it five times!
Gambling or hustling movies are a genre unto themselves. Individuals get caught up in the desire to win big – and they fall hard. But because it’s a Hollywood movie, all ends well and they come up triumphant.
Director Martin Scorsese has made three films with a gambling theme. There was Mean Streets with Robert de Niro and Harvey Keitel; The Colour of Money – his sequel to Robert Rossen’s The Hustler – with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise; and the kaleidoscopic vision of gambling, friendship and double- crossing in Casino.
On the local scene, The Croupier, written by Paul Mayersburg and directed by Mike Hodges (Get Carter), has just been filmed in Sun City.
The latest gambling film on the block is Rounders, which opens countrywide this week. It’s a well-written film noir drama starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton.
Damon’s character, Mike McDermott, abandons his law studies and his girlfriend to join up with his childhood friend, Worm, who is fresh out of jail.
Both are compulsive gamblers, but unlike Worm, Mike is not a cheat. Worm runs up a debt and is then caught cheating. The steadfast Mike stands by his friend – even borrowing money from his law professor for the final gamble.
This is by no means a perfect film. It is far too long, and director John Dahl (The Last Seduction) doesn’t hone down the plot as well as he could have. But, Damon and Norton’s performances are outstanding.
Damon displays his enigmatic smile and intelligence to marvellous effect, playing the preppy boy who takes to the sleazy world of card games.
Norton is mesmerising as a manipulative, almost psychopathic guy, who relies on his friend to bail him out of trouble.
And then there’s veteran Martin Landau as the professor who lends enormous gravitas to the whole film.
The only problem is John Malkovich as the baddie – a gangster who runs a gambling den. He becomes a complete caricature with a strained Russian accent and clichd mannerisms.
All the same, it is a film with an intelligent screenplay and two great lead performances. It’s a pity Dahl didn’t pile on the tension.
On a lighter note, there’s the charming Il Ciclone, a debut feature by Italian actor/director Leonardo Pieraccioni.
Pieraccioni plays Levante, an accountant in a small Tuscan town, who lives on a farm with his father, lesbian sister and his gawky brother.
The quiet community is sent into disarray when a travelling Flamenco troupe end up staying at Levante’s farm.
In many ways the film reminded me of a French farce; but with less double entendres.
Pieraccioni is marvellous in the lead, as is Lorena Forteza as the object of his affection.
It’s a feel-good romantic comedy with tragi-commedia elements, but charming and entertaining enough to be the highest grossing movie of all time in its home country.
Rounders is about gambling with bucks, Il Ciclone is about trying to win on love.