By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Hue Rhodes
Starring: John Cho | Peter Dinklage | Romany Malco | Sarah Silverman | Steve Buscemi | Tim Blake Nelson
Country: united_states
Year: 2010
Running time: 85
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276105/
Jason says: “This one had a short run on the plex’s smallest screen, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a pretty decent movie, with a good cast, but it’s also a weird one, with gambling addict John encountering a variety of bizarre characters both in Albequerque and the outskirts of Las Vegas. in what I’m told is a loose retelling of Dante’s Inferno.
It’s not a bad hour and a half if you’ve got patience for the quirky. Steve Buscemi plays John, and he turns in another excellent performance. John’s as off-center as any of the characters played by Buscemi’s co-stars, but there’s a desperation to his eccentricity. His gambling addiction is obviously self-destructive, and John knows this even as he seems incapable of fighting it. We sometimes wince watching him, but he also works as the sane man in a crazy world. It strikes me that it’s been a while since we’ve seen Buscemi as the quirky supporting character in a mainstream movie, and I kind of wonder whether it’s a case of him banking the money he made on those to do things like this, or he’s been relegated to them because people are casting John C. Reilly in those roles. Whichever the reason is, it’s great to see him doing good work. 3 cats
“Seen 18 February 2010 at Landmark Kendall Square #9 (first-run)”