Post by StevePulaski on Jul 5, 2016 0:42:37 GMT -5
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Edward G. Robinson.
Rating: ★★
If the world of poker needed a film that proved that the game of chance, luck, strategy, impulse, and predictions was actually a suspenseful, mental-rollercoaster, Norman Jewison's The Cincinnati Kid wouldn't be the film to adequately show it. Despite being occasionally entertaining and sporadically engrossing as it shows the interworkings of a man who lives for making bets and wagers at the blink-of-an-eye, this is unfortunately a film that is almost consistently robbed of anything and everything interesting. It gives us little to care about in the way of the character and even less to care about in the way of the game, making for a film that not only bears an identity issue but a crisis of value.
When a film comes in contact with dire straights that serious, it basically means that I cannot help it. I, personally, can't illustrate nor justify this film's potential greatness nor its ability to resonate or paint a compelling picture. The Cincinnati Kid, sadly, is a bland series of "what if's," all of which could've been translated and articulated in a film that was tense and involving, but one that instead settles for the kind of excitement of a period piece and the dry-wit and dialog with the entertainment value of a funeral eulogy.
The film is centered around Eric "The Kid" Stoner (Steve McQueen), a young, up-and-coming gambler fresh out of Depression-era America who is looking to make a quick buck. Not only does he thrive off of winning big money, but he thrives off the thrill, the challenges, and the sinful enticements of gambling on nearly everything. The Kid's real shot to prove to the town of New Orleans that he's the real deal in terms of being a gambling ace comes when he claims to have plans to face Lancey "The Man" Howard (Edward G. Robinson), a seasoned poker master. In the meantime, the Kid works to try and face the Man by continuing his longtime streak of smaller games with big stakes, all while becoming entangled in a romance he may or may not be able to sustain in the midst of trying to become the greatest poker player of all time.
The Cincinnati Kid comes brimful with a great deal of potential in terms of getting the field of poker to become a more relatable and enticing game for the audience, but doesn't manage to muster any of the kind of urgency necessary to do so. McQueen winds up giving an average performance, bested largely by Robinson, who's presence carries a more identifiable weight than the Kid's bland and ordinary persona predicated upon the idea of potential. This is the kind of film that might've seemed more suspense-ridden and exciting decades past but winds up being little else but a misfire in the modern day.
Starring: Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, and Ann-Margret. Directed by: Norman Jewison.