Apostando Alto

PLOT: Three low-level Bookmakers are looking for a quick fix to get out of some hot water with a local "dick" who is after them to reclaim money that his brother took from him and subsequently lost gambling. The bookies take "a tip" from a sympathetic freak, and all hell breaks loose.

I rented this movie because the cast looked amazing, and it didn't disappoint. The plot line seems at times a bit dis-junct, but even when the story slows down, it opens up room for some brilliant performances. John Turturro is rarely seen at this level....a cross between the "wired / freaky" guy he plays in the Coen Bros films, but here he displays a sympathy that is rarely seen in this kind of character. The bookies are headed off by George DiCenzo, who almost steals the movie....Michael Badaluco (recently on "The Practice") and John Spencer round out the trio. In a scene that makes the film, Jimmy Smits is great in a cameo as a gambler who can't pay. Scott Glenn takes yet another turn as the cop who seeks retribution.

There are few gambling-mafia- type movies that offer a sincerely comical look at the world of low-level wise guys (without avoiding the cliche's that you find in almost every knock off of a Scorsese film) this film manages to pull it off, and is at times very funny in the process.

I rented this video because of the impressive casting, thinking it might be an amusing gem. Ha! As I watched, I thought....this movie must have been made a long time ago- like before these guys ever had acting lessons. Boy was I surprised to find out that this movie was made in 97, well after most of the actors had good reputations and choice roles. I guess this proves that bad directing can make even the best actors look pretty terrible. I rated this movie a 3. It did have a little bit of witty dialogue and it was kind of fun to watch famous, well known actors be so awful, in a perverse kind of way.

I liked this, although it is far from perfect. It's an ensemble movie, three or four separate story lines that all come together in an ending that is totally wrong, but never mind. I liked Dicenzo and his two illegal bookie cronies, their operation looked real to me, and if John Turturo's character was a bit inconsistent -- one moment a moron, the next just a bit backward -- and if Jimmy Smits' participation (I like Smits and his starring position on the video cover was a selling point) was disappointingly brief, there are enough good things in this to keep it interesting. It's mix of 'real' violence and slapstick is another inconsistency, but there is enough in the dialogue and the performances - DiCenzo is particularly good -- to keep it watchable throughout.

Obviously some people didn't see the same movie that I did. Wonderfully funny and incredibly sad. Loved the perfect ending, and the casting?- wow! Well done like all the movies that John T is in. Yet another extremely underrated actor!!

I was channel surfing the other night, and saw this film as a late "Sunday Night" movie on ABC in NYC. What a cool film! I wonder how this film didn't have a bigger release. I may be a little New York centric, but this was a fun, "caper-ish" movie that while being serious, doesn't take itself too seriously.

This is the type of film I wish there were more of these days, but alas in the days of big budget, effect driven films; it's hard to find adult, character driven dramatic comedies; and this one is worth the watching.

Frank, NYC 4/03