Der Zocker

My review was written in September 1982 after a Columbus Circle screening.

Hal Ashby's "Lookin' to Get Out" is an ill-conceived vehicle for actor (and co-writer) Jon Voight to showcase his character comedy talents in a loose, semi-improvised environment. Harking back uncomfortably to the buddy pictures of a decade ago (particularly the Elaine May flop for Paramount "Mikey and Nicky"), the film only gels intermittently and despite its star names faces a grim commercial future.

Its tortuous production history saw "Lookin'" enter principal photography in May 1980 as a Lorimar production for United Artists release, later acquired in a package deal by Paramount. Five months of shooting was interrupted by the actors' strike, with reshooting and re-editing to follow. End product reflects little of the $17,000,000-plus negative cost on screen in this intimate tale of two vagabond gamblers.

Akex (Jon Voight) and Jerry (Burt Young) are the central figures, who flee New York to Las Vegas to escape thugs Harry (Jude Farese) and Joey (Alan Keller) whose $10,000 Alex has dropped in a poker game. In an increasingly contrived and unconvincing series of coincidence and turns of luck, duo set up shop in the "Dr. Zhivago" suite of the MGM Grand Hotel and use a false identity to obtain unlimited credit from the casino.

Return of casino owner Bernie Gold (Richard Bradford) ends their free-loading, but not before they have staked an ex-gambler (now a waiter at the hotel) Smitty (Bert Remsen) to a high-stakes blackjack game with ironic results.

Occasionally amusing, picture often has the feel of being improvised, with director Ashby giving Voight a loose rein to inject physical business and odd dialog into a scene. Interplay between Voight and Young is the film's raison d'etre, with each return to functional plot development or "surprise" twist coming off as artificial and annoying.

For example -star-billed Ann-Margret is injected (and written out at will) into the film as Alex's ex-girlfriend who just happens to be Gold's current flame, and in a preposterous curtain revelation by Gold, the mother of Alex's daughter which Alex has never met. Instead of farcical, this scene is irritating since, as usual, the viewer is way ahead of the screenplay. Oft-underlined theme of the joys and perils of acting upon impulse is negated by the unconvincing workings of fate.

Sporting a distracting no-bra look Ann-Margret is decorative but has no character to play. Remsen is effective, though his presence recalls an earlier (and far better) film he made in the same gambling milieu, Robert Altman's "California Split". Stars Voight and Young are an entertaining team, but presented in an untenable vehicle.

Tech credits are fine, including shameless plugging for the MGM leisure palace and its entertainment shows (particularly Siegfried and Roy's magic acts). Johnny Mandel's electronic rock score covers the awkward lapses between scenes, but without that bare musical bridge the film seems like out-takes of actors "winging it".

Because this film has been so stubbornly withheld from the home-video market, it has been years since the last time I saw it. Still, as a serious aficionado of fine acting, I still retain vivid memories of this lively flick and I can not understand all the negative reaction it received. The characters who populate this story are fascinating and memorably enacted by a superb cast. It would be little more than another typical caper flick were it not for the well-drawn weaknesses of the main characters which lead them inexorably into a high pressure situation from which they must try with all their might to escape. If you ever get to see this show, watch for the marvelous work of the numerous supporting players such as Richard Bradford. It is a deliciously glossy, stylish film but with a character-driven story that thoroughly engrossed me each time I saw it. It dances precariously between comedy and drama in a manner which I found intriguing and delightful. In view of all the bad reviews I have read about "Looking to Get Out" I deeply regret that it persists in being unavailable year after year. I would love to look at it again to try to figure out what causes so many folks to dislike it. Is it simply a matter of taste? I do not know.

I thought this film was excellent! I saw the extended version on DVD so uncertain what the clipped version looks like.

Jon Voight is superlative as the annoying wise guy gambler. Burt Young doesn't appear to be acting as the NYC street wise buddy - he is that good or at least well cast. Ann-Margret nails it as the old girl-friend who can't quite get Voight's character Alex out of her system. She is smoldering every time she is on screen and she really keeps the viewer enthralled with all the male actors vying for attention. Her extended kiss as Patti Warner with Alex will jolt male and female viewers alike with its tenderness and anticipation!

Should be required viewing for anyone with, or knows someone with a gambling addiction!

Really combines some of the best elements of Ocean's 11, The Sting and Don Quixote. Don't miss the last 15 minutes to see who is conning who.

The scene with real life father Jon Voight and daughter Angelina Jolie is not to be missed as it came off surreal to me. Watch and see what I mean.

Before I get into my critique of "Lookin' To Get Out", I feel I should mention that I saw the original theatrical cut of the movie via finding an old VHS release of the movie. Supposedly, the DVD release of this movie runs 15 extra minutes and supposedly improves the movie. That may be the case, but from what I saw, I can't see any extra footage making a big improvement of the mess that I saw. True, the DVD cut may explain a number of unanswered questions the original cut had, like why one character has bandages over one of his eyes. But the movie would still have a slow and plot less feel - it frequently feels that the actors are making it up as they go along. And while I think Voight and Young are talented actors, they give extremely annoying performances. The only thing that survives intact is the performance by Bert Remsen as the professional gambler - he's colorful, and commands the screen in his scenes. But even he can't save the movie enough to make it worth watching.

Of course, I only purchased this to finish off my Angelina Jolie collection (she had the most adorable chubby knees as a child!) and was prepared for the worst... Yet not prepared enough. Pointless. So pointless, even the characters seemed confused, and with Burt Young garbling all his lines it's a wonder you could even make out the GIST of what the man was saying. The 4-minute AJ appearance at the very end makes this one movie I never intend to rewind.