The Winner (1996)

When it is discovered that a man is having luck in the casinos in Las Vegas, people start attempting to take his money.

Director:

Alex Cox

Writers:

Wendy Riss (screenplay), Wendy Riss (play)

Stars:

Rebecca De Mornay, Vincent D'Onofrio, Richard Edson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Louise (as Rebecca DeMornay)
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Philip
Richard Edson	...	Frankie
Saverio Guerra	...	Paulie
Delroy Lindo	...	Kingman
Michael Madsen	...	Wolf
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Jack
Frank Whaley	...	Joey
Luis Contreras	...	Guy in Couple
Ed Pansullo	...	Man with Broken Arm
Sy Richardson	...	Bartender
Craig Vincent	...	Man
Biff Yeager	...	Philip's Father
Del Zamora	...	Cellmate
Roger Jennings	...	Croupier

Storyline

A story about a man who can't seem to do anything but win at the tables in Vegas. This, of course, brings hustlers out of the woodwork intent on using him for financial gain. One of them is the man's brother who, incidentally, is trying to find who it was that killed their father, while still another is a woman who has schemes of her own. Couple all of this with drug kingpins and general thugs and you have a comedy with a fresh twist on surviving in Vegas.

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Plot Keywords:

casino | luck | shower | nevada | corpse | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, along with some violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Alex Cox

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

A nyerő

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,293 (USA) (22 January 1999)

Gross:

$5,508 (USA) (22 January 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Damon Productions (MDP Worldwide), Village Roadshow Pictures, Clipsal Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alex Cox disowned the version of the film that was released as it had been re-edited without his consent.

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Soundtracks

"Yer Devil"
Music by Zander Schloss
Guitar by Zander Schloss
Bass by Tom Barta
Drums by Josh Freese

User Reviews

A Bad Script Turns 'Winner' Into 'Loser'

Yes, I agree with people here; this is a "coulda, woulda, shoulda" film. It could have been better and should have been.....but it's horrible, an absolute stinker.

I liked the premise but the story turned out stupid. The comedy was lame and the characters - all of them - were so sleazy and unlikable, how could you like the film?

After watching three years of Vincent D'Onofrio play the soft-spoken, super-intelligent "Det. Robert Goren: on Law and Order: Criminal Intent, I am amazed to look back at this film resume. Prior to that, he played almost nothing but despicable, demented characters. The rest of the cast in here wasn't shocking, either, as they have done similar work. They all can act, though. I'm speaking of fairly big "name" actors in this film: D'Onofrio, Rebecca De Mornay, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Madsen and Delroy Lindro.

But, it's hard to overcome a very bad script and lame one-liners that were supposed to be funny. Now I am more familiar with these actors than I was a dozen years ago, this might be better or at least interesting. Yet, I can't help but think a script that features nothing but unlikeable and sleazy characters is usually going to fall short

It's too bad, because I like stories centered in Las Vegas and gambling and this cast certainly is interesting.....but the story was anything but that. Maybe it's the director: his hits, "Sid And Nancy" and "Repo Man" also were way too sordid for me.