Stumbled on this on Netflix Instant yesterday, and was very impressed. Less sprawling than Altman's signature works, but still a very fun, just-this-side-of-seedy romp. Being a degenerate gambler myself, I was surprised both by how well he nailed the feel of those California card rooms, and how little they seem to have changed since the 70s. They've swapped out draw for hold em and chalkboards for whiteboards, but otherwise its the same types of people, the same half-drunkenness, the same mix of boredom and belligerence, the same bars next door where it couldn't be any more obvious who won and who lost. But beyond that, it really nails the highs and lows of gambling, of feeling like the most useless piece of shit imaginable when you blow that last 50 bucks that you weren't even going to bet, or splurging with money you halfway feel like you stole. The ending also took me by surprise, and has some interesting things to say about the American Dream and what it means to attain it.
But forget all that, this movie quite simply belongs to Elliot Gould. He's a careening ball of energy throughout, and the rest of the cast wisely doesn't even try to keep up. He nails an atypical but very real type of gambler, the boundless optimist for whom everything is a game, and none of them can't be improved with a wager. I never would've guessed the old fart from the Oceans movies had this much vitality and charisma once upon a time.
But forget all that, this movie quite simply belongs to Elliot Gould. He's a careening ball of energy throughout, and the rest of the cast wisely doesn't even try to keep up. He nails an atypical but very real type of gambler, the boundless optimist for whom everything is a game, and none of them can't be improved with a wager. I never would've guessed the old fart from the Oceans movies had this much vitality and charisma once upon a time.
