| Plot - Cuba,
December 1958: The professional gambler Jack visits Havana to organize a big
Poker game. On the ship he meets Roberta and falls in love with her. Shortly
after they arrive in Cuba, Roberta and her Cuban husband, the revolutionary
Arturo, are arrested and tortured. Arturo is reported "shot while trying to
escape," but Jack manages to get Roberta free again. He can't, however, keep
her from continuing to support the revolution. Jack has to make a choice
between the beautiful woman who keeps putting herself in harms way and the
biggest poker game of his life; between the man he could be and the man he is.
 This is a real film. Whether you like it or not depends on
whether you are a card playing romantic or not.
The story is
simple. Jack plays poker where ever there is a game and the game was supposed
to be in Havana. Unfortunately he turned up just when the rebels were trying to
get rid of the puppet dictator, Batista.
He meets a woman
who happens to think her husband is dead which means he can fall in love with
her and whisk her to safety. The story yearns for something to really happen in
places that are just too slow. But Redford is Redford and the romantic vision
of a poker player is not even a change from his normal character.
I
really like this movie for all the wrong reasons. There never has been a poker
player like this but the fantasy is worth watching. Redford is incredibly
believable and so is Alan Arkin who rarely gives a poor performance. Raoul
Julia and Lena Olin are hamming it up too much.
The cast is pretty
strong but Raoul Julia had his name removed from it for reasons unknown (he
thought it was crap).
Nominated for an Oscar this has a few nice
touches and a glimpse of history. The score 6½/10.
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