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The Big Town

5.8

285

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Original title

The Big Town

Year

1987

Running time

109 min.

Country

United States

Director

Ben Bolt

Screenwriter

Robert Roy Pool. Novel: Clark Howard

Cast

Music

Michael Melvoin

Cinematography

Ralf D. Bode

Producer

Albacore Productions Inc, Columbia Pictures

Genre

Thriller. Drama. Romance | 1950s. Gambling. Neo-noir

Synopsis

It is 1957. J.C. Cullen is a young man from a small town, with a talent for winning at craps, who leaves for the big city to work as a professional gambler. While there, he breaks the bank at a private craps game at the Gem Club, owned by George Cole, and falls in love with two women, one of them Cole's wife. Infuriated, Cole wagers everything on the craps table, including the Gem Club itself, and he and Cullen have it out.

Critics' reviews

"The story is predictable, but the style had me on the edge of my seat. (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"This huge cliche of a movie isn't even a distant relation of films like The Color of Money, which can actually make you root for hustlers. The Big Town only proves we've gone back to the 1950's one time too many."

Caryn James: The New York Times
"There's not a performance here that doesn't ring true, nor is there a period detail that's the least bit anachronistic in Bill Kenney's production design and Wendy Partridge's costumes"

Kevin Thomas: Los Angeles Times
"Despite all the props, costumes, and music, the film conveys no feel for the city, the period, or the seedy gambling milieu."

TV Guide
"'The Big Town' aims to be 'The Hustler' with dice, but it's just a lot of craps -- a laughable, overlong look at a small-town gambler's comeuppance at the hands of Chicago's high rollers."

Rita Kempley: The Washington Post

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User history

The Big Town

1987

Ben Bolt

5.8

(285)