User Reviews

I remember when this movie was released and hearing about the friction between co-stars Bette Midler and Ken Wahl. Midler had won rave reviews for her performance 3 years earlier in THE ROSE. Wahl was an up and coming actor noted for his looks coming off of a string of moderately successful films like FORT APACHE THE BRONX and SOLDIER. Apparently during the filming the two crashed frequently and the pair, lovers in the film, both described how unpleasant it was to kiss each other.

But the one thing that got me the most was hearing Midler complain about the director of the film. She talked about how he didn't know what he was doing and how he had it in for her. Those comments cemented her in my mind as a diva at the time. Why? The director she claimed was terrible was Don Siegel, the director of films like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, HELL IS FOR HEROES, THE SHOOTIST, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ and DIRTY HARRY. Comparing that resume with her one previous starring role made me think the friction was directed at her so much as emanating from her.

After watching this movie for the first time some 34 years later my beliefs were confirmed. The film studio centered the film around Midler trying to cash in on her popularity at the time and it shows. The film revolves around her making most of the other characters seem like side notes. Worse yet the trailer for the film, included on this blu-ray release, also showcases her and makes the movie seem like a hilarious new comedy. If that was what they were going for they failed miserably.

The story begins with Harry Benson (Rip Torn), a high rolling gambler, playing blackjack at the table of Willie Brodax (Wahl). As it unfolds we discover that Harry's playing at Willie's table in Las Vegas cost Willie his job as Benson always seemed to win at his table. The same happens here and Willie loses yet another job.

Midler stars as Bonita Friml, a lounge singer and Harry's girlfriend whose grown weary of Harry's rough ways but stays with him with nowhere else to go. When she asks Harry why he continues to play Willie's tables he lets her know that it's a bit of luck that follows the two of them where ever they go. Willie will deal and Harry will win no matter what the costs to Willie.

Willie gets a new job and Harry of course shows. When Willie talks to his boss about it the boss tells him that he's jinxed and that the only way he can break the jinx is to take something of Harry's. So of course he sets his eyes on Bonita who is all too willing. Bonita comes up with a solution to their problem: kill Harry and she'll cash in his insurance and the two can live happily ever after. What should have been a comedy of errors falls flat from here on in. Not only that the buildup to this point was slow and not the least bit funny.

The number of things wrong with this movie are too many to count but here are a few. It's not funny to begin with. I'm talking serious lack of laughs here. Midler's acting may have grown later but here her performance is too big and suited for the stage than it is a movie. Wahl's part seems tiny in comparison and he's given little to do let alone act with. Torn seems to be making time and collecting a check. From the look of things Siegel apparently had too many chiefs on this film telling him what to do. One of those items was the music for the film. Siegel had Lalo Shiffrin record the soundtrack which the studio tossed and replaced. It was a major mistake as the score here is terrible and uses light hearted tones where not needed as if to say "hey this is a funny flick" when it isn't.

Midler has grown into a much better actress. Wahl's career took a nosedive until 1987 when he struck gold with the TV series WISEGUY. Unfortunately for Siegel this was the last movie he ever did, an unfitting farewell for a fantastic director. Fans of the stars might want to add this to their collection for that reason alone. Siegel fans will only want to pick it up to make sure they have everything he ever did in their collection even if they never watch it. Other than those few my suggestion is to avoid this one, it truly is that bad.

I love Bette Milder, she is a fantastic singer and has excellent acting skills. However her talents could not save this movie.

The characters are barely likable. The story line if handled correctly would have been delightful dark comedy. However, it is not a dark comedy, it is dull and dreary drama

It all starts with Ken Wahl playing a good looking stud black jack dealer being stalked by a scam artist professional gambler (Rip Torn). He jinx Wahl, forcing him to move to another casino and Torn follows with his ever suffering conniving wife (Bette Milder).

Wahl is told to get the jinx off his back, he must get something of the jinx. So Wahl finds where he lives discovers he has a wife and in a scene that is straight out of Law and Order SVU, he "seduces" her. And she falls for the big meathead. Deciding she rather be with the stud than the dud, she hatches a plan to murder her husband.

After Wahl manages to outwit the jinx, Torn's character commits suicide. Milder realizing she can't get the insurance money convinces Wahl to stage an accident. After the accident, she learns there was no insurance and then she receives a cryptic letter from her late hubby about hidden money. So the last half of the film has Milder running around half of Nevada looking for it.

The movie ends on "happy" note where the two lovers beat the odds and drive off to fleece casinos.

Milder and Wahl made a very unconvincing couple. They lack chemistry. It is probably has to do with the fact MIlder and Wahl did not like each other.

If you are a fan of Bette Milder, skip this one and watch "The Rose" instead.

It took four years for Bette Midler's return to film stardom and a better script that boosted her box office, and fortunately by that time, this messy black comedy was long forgotten. Pretty much every diva of the modern day film has had a disaster, and in this case "Jinxed" is Bette's. Combining incredibly unlikable tacky characters and a rip-off of the classic film noir classics, "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (just re-made the previous year), this is often painful, especially for Bette fans. Bette, unhappily involved with low-life gambler Rip Torn, has had an inclandestin affair with sexy Ken and Wahl, an equally down on his luck casino table operator whom she talks onto helping her off Torn. But a strange twist of fate puts a change in their plans, leading to further complications.

Sexy Wahl is easy on the eye, but Midler's poodle like wig is laughable. Midler does get to sing a bit, but the comedy is forced and obnoxious, not funny. I felt sorry for Bette when she was forced to dress a dead, naked Rip who literally does rip one while she's purposely dresses him up in clothes that he "wouldn't be caught dead in". A wild goose chase set up by Torn dominates the second half and gets the film even further off track.

The genuinely wretched script is made even worse by the fact that Bette and Ken have absolutely no chemistry and that she is a shell of what she did in "The Rose" and her live performances. As a huge Bette fan, I wouldn't watch this ever again, and that her charisma was done definitely waning here. Fortunately, she wouldn't be "Down and Out" for long, and other than a handful of real stinkers ("Drowning Mona", anyone?), she remains at the too of my list of musical divas who can do it all.

There are serious problems with this movie. To begin with one of the most obvious, the intrigue feels like a random collection of ideas, arcs and storylines. The result is pretty hideous, like an Eskimo igloo filled with modern Scandinavian furniture, Calder mobiles, stuffed lions and Victorian souvenirs. Oh, and within the igloo there is an artificial waterfall, with a little pond surrounded by plastic frogs that sing "Happy birthday".

Also pretty bewildering : the insistence on building a comedy on tragic foundations. (Granted, it's a black comedy, but still.) The movie starts by introducing the viewer to a violent .sshole who likes to annoy other people. His relationship with a music hall singer has long run its course, but he sticks to her like white on rice, mainly because he loves to mistreat her. It's the classic "No dame is going to leave ME !" As a domestic abuser, he scores positive on nearly every indicator : he beats his partner to a pulp during drunken rages, he threatens her life, he mistreats her pet, he sabotages her dreams and exploits her accomplishments. As if all this wasn't bad enough, both the .sshole and his partner evolve against a background of sleazy casinos and poverty-stricken trailer parks. Having thus established an atmosphere of wall-to-wall misery, the movie announces that we're in for some madcap hi-jinks. Unsurprisingly, this doesn't work.

Other failures seem to spring from a combination of bad acting, bad dialogue and bad direction. For instance, there's the scene were the young casino dealer seduces the .sshole's partner. There's nothing sexy, sassy or funny about this scene. On the contrary : the "seduction" feels like a home invasion likely to end in rape and homicide. Watching it is like watching one of these sad items in "Crimewatch" programmes where the police tries to reconstruct a crime. ("The suspect, who is described as a smooth talker, convinced Mrs. Wilson to open the door and let him in. While still in the kitchen, he began to make lewd suggestions. When Mrs. Wilson fled through the living room, he picked her up and threw her against the sofa, with a great deal of violence. He then beat her repeatedly with a blunt object such as a rolled umbrella.")

Talk about a comedy being "jinxed" - this level of failure necessitates a voodoo doll stabbing a black cat with a broken horseshoe, on a Friday the 13th.

I first saw this movie way back, it must have been not long after the original release-and I enjoyed the move. Finally, four decades later and I have just watched it a second time. Guess what? I still enjoy it.

There are a lot of negative reviews on imdb about the movie, and, to be fair, the criticisms are mostly valid. The acting is not the best, the story is shallow, and obviously the movie was shot on a budget, but with all that I enjoyed my rewatch.

So, why do I enjoy this B- flick? First, the story appealed to me, the down and out habitual gambler (Rip Torn) was a character. Second, of course, the great Bette Midler, her acting varied but overall she played her character with energy and appeal. On my rewatch I realised I enjoyed how she turned her character around. From a passive and abused girlfriend she became the mastermind who conned the blackjack dealer (who first roughly seduced her) into murdering her boyfriend, (Torn's character). Last, she turned the tables around and turned the dealer boyfriend into her new Jonah.

If you are considering watching this movie for a grand cinematic experience, don't. It isn't. If you just want 90 minutes of fun with a few twists give this a look.