THIS cast could have taken the film into a 'HIGHER realm' of movie magic than the 'Great Abraham' ever managed. BUT it never gets going... Disappointing Mark Rydell film that fails to 'take off'....KGrammar&RLiotta, terrific actors both, seem in suspended animation. Can't put my finger on the problem, but the spark is not quite there.Happy to hire this DVD based on the talent displayed on the front cover. Some good scenes especially where DDaVito is concerned.All told?This did not deliver the goods Would not recommend. This gets a "6", and feel generous with that.

Aside from Horse Racing, this movie pretty much covered the gambling industry from A-Z. The intertwining of the characters was well done. Acting was great, especially Tim Roth who played Victor.Mr. Roth is very underrated.He has great acting range, have seen him in many different types of roles. Yes there were some clichés. Bored housewife, jealous of husbands success and fills void by gambling. Point shaving family member prodded by brother who is in deep debt to bookies, and a washed up magician living in ,lets just say sub prime conditions. Even with the clichés , this film did well to explore each character in great lengths. The movie veered a little to Film Noir with some twists , I felt were unnecessary. All in all a very watchable film that depicted the gambling situation in really Anytown,USA. It was clever that this film did not distinguish what city this took place.A thoroughly , enjoyable film with some ambiguity... By that I mean , at times , in your mind , you did not know who to rout , in certain situations, such as winning certain bets. An entertaining film, good acting ensemble, moral lessons- What else can you ask ?

I 've made up my mind to try to be succinct in my reviews, brief, to the point. This will be more helpful to me and to the readers here. Art should speak for itself, reviews are not diatribes.It's a testament to the continued ignorance and emotionally shallowness of the majority (even at IMDb that is an IQ/eq click over the median) that decent films get sub par ratings, and atrocious ones get good ones. That said it's always heartening to see that an informed minority (who's voted 30/45 on another reviewer's positive review) has got the sense and the sensibility (to paraphrase one of the loveliest wordplays ever) to appreciate good films within their differing opinions of taste, background, world view, frame of mind.This is one of those films that is actually quite good, yet you 'd never know that from the rating or some reviews here. First of all we have an excellent cast of seasoned actors giving fine, tempered performances, not overdone, not understated, just fine tuned performances all around. So the drama or the twists aren't spectacular, so what? There's plenty of humanity here and emotion to keep one's interest. A special vote to Kim Basinger who isn't getting the recognition she deserves, she's adorable here and she's grown to be a splendid actress, despite the ensemble cast the real star here is her. All in all a very sweet film.

First odd, this is a multi-part story,involving various types of gambling & the persons involved with gambling.The scenes involving Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger & Ray Liotta are the best, Forrest Whittaker & Nick Cannon scenes are almost as good, I could have had mess MUCH less of the ones with Jay Mohr & Tim Roth & Kelsey Grammar, Not they were bad, just not as interesting.Mark Rydel directed with his usual Flair, & production values was quite good, The film runs 113 LONG minutes, it could have been shorter.This film is another example of having a very short release in only a handful of theatres.Ratings **1.2 (out of 4)78 points (out of 1oo) 7 (out of 10)