Synopsis
It is 1957. J.C. Cullen is a young man from a small town, with a talent for winning at craps, who leaves for the big city to work as a professional gambler. While there, he breaks the bank at a private craps game at the Gem Club, owned by George Cole, and falls in love with two women, one of them Cole's wife.
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Cast
- Matt DillonJ.C. Cullen
- Diane LaneLorry Dane
- Tommy Lee JonesGeorge Cole
- Bruce DernM. Edwards
- Lee GrantFerguson Edwards
- Tom SkerrittPhil Carpenter
- Suzy AmisAggie Donaldson
- David Marshall GrantSonny Binkley
- Don FrancksCarl Hooker
- Del CloseDeacon Daniels
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The story is predictable, but the style had me on the edge of my seat. - 80
Los Angeles Times
There's not a performance here that doesn't ring true, nor is there a period detail that's the least bit anachronistic in Bill Kenney's production design and Wendy Partridge's costumes. [25 Sep 1987, p.1] - 67
Christian Science Monitor
The 1950s atmosphere is vivid and the cast is solid, except Diane Lane, who saves most of her energy for the unnecessary sex scenes. The story builds a good deal of momentum and then falls completely apart in the last 20 minutes or so. [09 Oct 1987, p.21] - 50
The Associated Press
First-time director Ben Bolt, son of writer Robert Bolt, evokes excitement with the gambling scenes, but the climactic shooting is poorly staged, and the epilogue is a letdown. [21 Oct 1987] - 40
The New York Times
This huge cliche of a movie isn't even a distant relation of films like The Color of Money, which can actually make you root for hustlers. The Big Town only proves we've gone back to the 1950's one time too many. - 40
TV Guide Magazine
Despite all the props, costumes, and music, the film conveys no feel for the city, the period, or the seedy gambling milieu. - 38
Chicago Tribune
A lot of nostalgia movies are so in love with their period details that they squander plot and character time on lingering shots of antique cars and storefronts. They wear their vintage with the self-conscious smirk of a 40-year-old stepping out in her prom dress. It's a hoot, of course, but it doesn't guarantee a good time. [25 Sep 1987, p.L] - 30
Washington Post
The Big Town aims to be The Hustler with dice, but it's just a lot of craps -- a laughable, overlong look at a small-town gambler's comeuppance at the hands of Chicago's high rollers.
