“I don’t need marked cards to beat you, pal.” – Cincinnati Kid

Number of Times Seen – 2 (17 Mar 2001 and 19 Feb 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A young hot shot poker player gets into a game with one of the bets players in the game and must prove he has what it takes to win.

My Take on it – This is another film that I wanted to reacquaint myself with as I’m trying to watch all of Steve McQueen’s films.

I saw this one about 17 years ago, but didn’t recall liking it very much, so I decided to rewatch it.

I must admit, this film bored me so much.

Nothing really happens and most of the movie is just watching expert card players play poker.

Perhaps if I was a fan of the game or even if I understood it better, this film would have spoken to be more, but since I am not, and I don’t, I can’t really say that I cared for it at all.

It didn’t feel suspenseful at all and just felt that we get a chance to watch expert card players play a game of poker.

Perhaps I am missing out on something because I know that many people believe this to be an amazing film, but I can’;t see any reason why anyone would want to spend 100 minutes watching a card game like this.

The cast is fine with McQueen doing an ok job here along with Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Ann-Margaret and Joan Blondell but none of the five of them really stand out at all here.

If anyone out there can explain why they think this film is great, I’d love to hear about it, but I doubt anyone can convince me that this film is any better than I already think.

Bottom Line – Extremely boring film. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I’m not a card player, but nothing really happens here besides the few poker games that show the skill of the characters but does nothing for the audience.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Spencer Tracy was originally cast as Lancey Howard but poor health forced him to withdraw and he was replaced by Edward G. Robinson. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (3/10)

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