This is the cinematic equivalent of a dime novel. It has the whiff of Mickey Spillane about it, although even Spillane would have disowned plot developments that ignore all logic. Set in 1957, the film looks as though it could have been made then, too, apart from the nudity and occasional expletive. Matt Dillon plays the ace dice-player who arrives in Chicago to become an 'arm', coming under the wing of gambling entrepreneurs Bruce Dern and Lee Grant and becoming involved with sweet, child-tied Suzy Amis and sassy stripper Diane Lane, wed to the crooked gambler (Tommy Lee Jones, with hair raked back) he has just taken for $14000. 'You think I can make it in Chicago? ' he asks his mentor. No contest. There's a simple-minded sub-plot of sorts which involves Dern's thirst for revenge on the gambler who blinded him years before and who has a small red heart tattooed on his right wrist. Gee, wonder if they'll ever find him? Dillon strikes poses, Tom Skerritt lends his wry charm to a too-brief part and Don Lake scores as a very nervous dice salesman. It isn't boring, but that's about all you can say.


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