The Big Town (1987)
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.
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How do you rate a movie like this, which will never be great, but realizes tolerably, pretty well, a genre shuffle? The genre we might call neo-noir, but perhaps neo-B is better. There is the various filler--jazz, night alley with gleaming wet pavement, lots of bars, a fight club, street jammed with clubs, a elevated train that sparks when the guy and the girl kiss. And neo-filler--more than one woman doing a striptease with feathers and pasties and a bit of French stuff in bed. 1987 pretending to be the 1950s--mom with a little hat coming from church, shiny suits, homely red car. Someplace pretending to be "Chicago," da Big Town. A dice game a smart guy can pretty much always win, even when it's played in many scenes.And Matt Dillon who's really into it, skinny guy always focused, doing a fine job. A "kid" who can be older, Tintin in a strip club. But it ain't "Drugstore Cowboy."
What a surprisingly good movie this one turned out to be. This is the type of film that I've been looking for ages. Particularly important for me was the fantastic-looking Chicago, which I still keep thinking about. The back cover doesn't do this film justice, it's superb, and in my top-5 for sure.
Considering the big name cast and lavish production I expected a lot more of this film. The acting for the most part is great, although the story they have to work with is mediocre at best. However the film still warrants watching because of the acting and the stars and some and up and coming young talent.
The Big Town is an underrated movie. It boasts of a fantastic cast, and an interesting storyline, yet there are few who remember this movie. I suppose the screenplay and direction could have been better, yet this movie deserves more appreciation than it actually got. Matt Dillon puts in a good performance as the young shooter from a small town, trying to make it big with the 'throw of the dice'. But the man who steals the show is Tommy Lee Jones with an excellent performance as the old timer( a shooter himself) who doesn't think too kindly of the 'new kid on the block(Dillon). Diane Lane, better known for Murder at 1600, plays his wife, and Tom Skeritt and Suzy Amis are good in supporting roles. Amis, in particular, makes excellent use of her limited screen time. This movie is definitely recommended. Truly outstanding work by the entire cast.