Zigs

What a fun movie this one is. Four friends in Los Angeles have a pretty bad gambling problem. Isn't that enough for a ride already? Writer/director Mars Callahan manages to really get into the lives of problem gamblers, and has fun with it, too. The movie focuses on the lives of four friends who just want to own their own restaurant. Jason Priestly stars as David Zigman, the son of a restaurant owner who'd rather sit in the office with his feet up on the desk while watching a Lakers game on TV instead of actually doing work. Kane Picoy is Mike, the narrator and David's best friend. Peter Dobson as the Jersey Jinx (Cory) and Orien Richman as Brett bring gut-busting comic relief throughout the movie. And I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but Clyde the bookie, the "Chris Walken aficionado" who claims to have seen King of New York 2000 times, is actually Callahan himself. The movie has some well-planned plot twists and action, and if you are as into the gambling scene as I am, it'll have you alternately biting your nails and cheering for the group of friends. Big smiles all around!

What a waste of time and money!! I'm truly sorry I've seen this film instead of doing something else. Four utterly uninteresting characters, living uninteresting lives, gambling all day long... That's what the film is about. Sexist, shallow, a bit racist, you name it... I really can't believe someone would vote 10 for this film. They must be out of their minds or be friends of the director/cast (more probable). Avoid like the plague... You've been warned.

"Zigs" aka Double Down is hilarious. Full of little scenes that make a small movie work. The core of the movie is four friends, degenerate gamblers all who spend their days and nights at a restauraunt bar called "Zigs". When one of their number is threatened by a Christopher Walken impersonating bookie, for his excessive debts, the Jewish buddies come up with a plan to throw a major league baseball game. The plot is really unimportant compared to the great atmosphere and fun characters. One scene on the techniques for impersonating William Shatner is worth the cost of rental alone. A fun little film. Keep your eyes peeled for more Jason Priestly work, he's not just a 90210 flake! If you like Double Down you'll also enjoy a great little movie called "Coldblooded".

DOUBLE DOWN (AKA ZIGS) closely shadows DINER in that it follows a group of twenty-something male friends whose saturnalian lifestyle involves them in a series of `amusing' episodes. Only problem is this movie completely fails to capture the elements of friendship and camaraderie that made DINER such a superb film. The characters (and situations) are far too superficial, to the point that you really don't care what happens to them.

Priestley and Picoy, while undeniably photogenic, come across as Sinatra/Martin wannabes and, of course, they fail miserably, while the two other, lesser, characters making up the group are just annoying most of the time.

If you want class watch DINER, if you want cool watch Sinatra's OCEAN'S 11, if you want to be bored watch this.