The Gamble

This Italian costume drama played in Europe, but is being released straight to home video here in the U.S. Matthew Modine stars as Francesco, the son of a Venetian nobleman, who's returning to Venice after being exiled for his amorous inclinations. When he arrives home, he finds his father has lost everything to a German Countess (Faye Dunaway). When the Countess sees the comely Francesco, she suggests that he gamble himself in a winner take all bet. Francesco loses, and runs like the dickens. The Countess puts a couple of henchmen on his tail, and Francesco, enroute to France, picks up the spoiled noblewoman Olivia (Jennifer Beals) along the way...so, the rest of the movie alternates between bedding and brawling. Incidentally, bedding and brawling are the chief attributes of a "B"-movie which, all-star cast and big budget aside, The Gamble most certainly is. Dunaway, a thoroughly seasoned pro, takes her awful dialogue and turns it into winning camp. Beals, the cardboard "star" of Flashdance and The Bride, also fares pretty well, since she's a "B"-actress to begin with. Modine, however, is embarrassing. A gifted young actor, Modine doesn't have Dunaway's professional sense of how to turn a turkey script to your advantage: he tries to play the material seriously; a major mistake. Thanks to Dunaway, The Gamble has some nice campy moments (especially her ninja sword-wielding scene near the end of the film), but she's rarely onscreen. Most of the time we're left with a would-be Errol Flynn and a bubblehead. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)