A gentle, amusing, well-played but slow gangster comedy from writer-director David Mamet who has made such an impact on the Hollywood scene since his House of Games. The games in this film begin when Gino (Don Ameche), a shoe repairer who happens to resemble a notorious Mafia hit-man, is persuaded to confess to a gangland killing in return for money, security on release and the fulfilment of his dream - a boat. Now the bad guys don't exactly intend to stick to their end of the bargain, but Gino doesn't know this, and neither does Jerry, a gangster (Joe Mantegna) whose `probationary' assignment after a bungled job is to look after Gino for a few days before the trial. Fed up, and taking pity on the shoeshop `Mafioso', Jerry sweeps him off to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days, where things change... and dramatically alter what would otherwise have been the logical ending of the film. Ameche and Mantegna are excellent, but the treatment of their story is too low-key and far too leisurely to make this outstanding entertainment.

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