| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Robert Redford | ... | Jack Weil | |
| Lena Olin | ... | Bobby Duran | |
| Alan Arkin | ... | Joe Volpi | |
| Tomas Milian | ... | Menocal | |
| Daniel Davis | ... | Marion Chigwell | |
| Tony Plana | ... | Julio Ramos | |
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Betsy Brantley | ... | Diane |
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Lise Cutter | ... | Patty |
| Richard Farnsworth | ... | Professor | |
| Mark Rydell | ... | Meyer Lansky | |
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Vasek Simek | ... | Willy |
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Fred Asparagus | ... | Baby Hernandez |
| Richard Portnow | ... | Mike MacClaney | |
| Dion Anderson | ... | Roy Forbes | |
| Carmine Caridi | ... | Captain Potts | |
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. Written by Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
I just saw this one again on DVD and was surprised at how good it was. The acting, story and environment made it very easy to follow what was going on. I fail to see big holes in the plot: the characters are very well developed. What is created is a very sweet romantic thriller in a historical setting - the viewer knows that the revolution will take place so that part is anti-climatic.
The film didn't attempt to make the revolutionaries into the good guys - Batista's forces did come across as corrupt and arrogant though.
One mistake: Redford's character convinces the security chief he works for the CIA which is implausible since he's supposedly on assignment in Cuba and doesn't speak Spanish.