Just saw The Gambler tonight. James Caan in a very different role from Sonny Corleone. Well, self-destructive in a different way. Won't go into detail on the plot, as if you're reading this there's a good chance you've already seen it. But I was impressed. Lauren Hutton, for one, was a lot more naturalistic than I would have expected.
Will say that if you're a pimp and you get beaten half to death by an English professor, you may want to look into a different career.
2 comments:
The Gambler is definitely one of the James Caan movies we've watched this past while. While it's a pretty depressing film overall the idea of gambling never appealed to me anyway, so seeing someone completely addicted not just to gambling alone but to losing everything in his life, was something that scared me. While It was brilliant in a way, I felt I was watching a car wreck.
Of course, James Caan was a brilliant actor in his time and the 70s was a great time for movies. Besides The Godfather, another one he starred in around that time was the unfortunately named Slither. It's not at all about snakes, in case you're wondering, but about how he slthers out of difficult situations. In the movie he's a recently released prisoner who has some wild adventures when he goes in search of the money he was convicted of having stolen. The fine supporting cast and the fact the movie goes off in some unexpected directions makes me think you'd probably enjoy it too..
Gambling is a dangerous habit for someone to get into when they have an addictive personality. Once you get the original thrill of beating the odds, you're willing to chase that high through a lot of situations where you very much don't beat them. Caan's character in this movie has all that, plus a certain grandiosity built into his character which makes him go all out. It's a memorable performance.
I was confused initially when you mentioned ''Slither'' because there was a horror comedy with that title that came out about 15 years ago. Hadn't seen it myself but I was pretty sure Caan wasn't in it. It does sound like it could be fun to see, in any case (the movie you're talking about, I mean.) I can sort of sympathize. Once you do hard time for stealing money you must feel like you've earned it.
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