Un giocatore troppo fortunato

Harold Benson (Rip Torn) is a professional gambler, who always wins the bets against the blackjack dealer Willie Brodax (Ken Wahl). Harold has a jinx on Willie and ca not lose with him. The bad lucky of Willie is getting famous in Reno, and he is fired of all casinos after losing for Harold. The singer Bonita Friml (Bette Midler) is the abused girlfriend of Harold, who has an affair with Willie and plots to kill Harold simulating an accident with the trailer where they live, to get his life insurance. Ten years ago, I bought this VHS in a sale offer based on the name of Don Siegel, but I was not able to finish watching this movie, since I found it boring. Yesterday I decided to see it until the 'The End' and now I can say that it is really silly and boring. The story is an unsuccessful dark comedy, with very few funny parts. It is very hard to believe that a handsome man, like Ken Wahl, could fall in love for the character of Bette Midler. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): 'Jogando Com a Vida' ('Gambling With the Life')

Rip Torn is a professional gambler who's made a decent living at it for years, but over the past year this man's income has skyrocketed because he's found a patsy. Seems like he's got the hoodoo sign on blackjack dealer Ken Wahl which causes him to clean up when he plays his table. The casino bosses notice it too as Wahl moves from job to job, but always Torn catches up to him.

Scouting the way is Bette Midler who is Torn's abused spouse, a lounge singer and somehow Wahl just never notices he happens to be working with her always. I guess the dealers and the entertainment really do move in different universes.

But when casino boss Val Avery says to do something underhanded to Torn, Wahl mounts a campaign to go after Bette. With his looks, Bette's needs and Torn's attitude, this one is an easy campaign. After that Midler gets Wahl involved in a plot to murder Torn and run away with Bette and the loot he's stashed. At this point the plot starts to resemble Billy Crystal's and Danny DeVito's efforts to Throw Momma From The Train.

It all works out, but just not quite the way they expected.

This film was the last one of director Don Siegel who started out back in the Hollywood Studio days. Not too many folks can claim to have directed Ronald Reagan and Bette Midler in their careers. This was Siegel's only venture into comedy albeit black comedy, he just didn't have the touch required for this film. His film with Ronald Reagan was not a high point of Siegel's career either.

Bette's best working alone which for about 20 minutes she does as Mr. Torn sends her on a treasure hunt. It'a almost a comic version of Clint Eastwood being sent all over San Francisco by Andy Robinson to deliver ransom in Dirty Harry. Which was also a Siegel film.

Fans of Bette Midler will like Jinxed however.

Gambler Harold (Rip Torn) and his girlfriend Bonita (Bette Midler) follow blackjack dealer Willie (Ken Wahl) where ever he works. It seems Harold is a jinx to Willie--Harold always wins big when Willie deals. Willie and Bonita meet and fall for each other and plot to kill Harold for all his money.

This movie was plagued with problems. Wahl and Midler hated each other and were always fighting and arguing--at one point Wahl likened kissing Midler to kissing his dog! Unfortunately director Don Siegel also hated Midler and it comes through loud and clear. This movie was being called a disaster before it even came out! I remember seeing it opening night in Boston in a nearly empty theatre. It's not a good movie but it's not a disaster either.

Wahl is pretty terrible in his role. Handsome but blank. Siegel's usually good direction seems off (I think on purpose). The plot is more drama then comedy--despite Midler's performance in "The Rose" she was much better and more comfortable doing comedy. Still, she's the only reason to see this. Despite all the problems she was having while filming this she's full of life and energy. She's especially good while doing a stage number and interrupting it to plot with Wahl how to kill Torn. Torn is good but he's hardly in the movie.

All these years later look at who's still popular. Siegel died in 1991 and Wahl's career died quickly in the mid 1980s. Midler is still going strong. So I liked it but I'll never say it's a GOOD movie. For Midler fans this is a must.

"I'll never walk again."

As a Bette Midler fan it is difficult for me to dislike anything associated with her, but even with my fan loyalty, it is too much for me to sit through this movie.

The plot involves a triangle between Bette as a show girl and aspiring actress, her husband, a heavy drinking gambler with no steady job, and a young Vegas dealer. The premise lies in the gambler's ability to win every hand dealt to him by the young dealer, providing him with a steady income and causing the young dealer to lose his jobs and move from casino to casino. The young dealer calls the gambler a "jinx" giving us a title.

From this very strained premise (the movie loses any chance of credibility from the start) the plot moves from boring, to awkward, to outrageous, as in "What the heck is going on?" With a lame plot, poor acting by most of the cast, and no characters the audience feels sympathy for, the only thing this film has going for it is Bette's energy. She really pours her heart into her role, as if she feels like she can make this film great by her efforts alone. But even the Divine Mrs. M. can save this film, I am sad to say.

Bette Midler's a lounge singer in Reno who plots to kill her abusive boyfriend with the help of a hunky card-dealer, leading to a wacky scavenger hunt for the man's hidden loot. Dark-hued comedy takes a long time to get cooking, but there are some big laughs in the second-half, mostly due to Midler's hamming and several of her wicked throwaway lines ("Talk to my a**, my head's had enough!"). Ken Wahl is a tepid stud, but Rip Torn is a hoot as Midler's scummy roommate. Frank D. Gilroy co-penned the screenplay with David Newman, utilizing the pseudonym Bert Blessing. Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is gauzy and gauche (perhaps he should have adopted a pseudonym as well). Overall, not as atrocious as its bad reputation might leave one to believe. ** from ****