17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth a roll of the dice, June 15, 2006
The varied reactions to this movie by other reviewers are interesting, but nonetheless surprise me. De gustibus and all that, I suppose.
Released in 1987 but set in 1957, this is a well written and well acted drama with much of the feel of 40s and 50s noir. The look of the film, presumably deliberately, also has the style of an earlier era. The sound track, with Ivory Joe Hunter, Lincoln Chase, Big Joe Turner and others, couldn't be more suitable. The sleaze, of course, is much more advanced than would have been permissible thirty years earlier.
The hero, J.C. Cullen (Matt Dillon), is more complex than a pure country innocent corrupted by a wicked woman Lorry Dane (Diane Lane), a stripper at the Gem Club. A small town gambler trying to make it big in Chicago, he has his own dark, or at least not-so-light, side, which is why he takes up with Lorry so readily. Yet, he at least struggles with his conscience even if he doesn't always do the right thing. Tommy Lee Jones and Bruce Dern are in fine form as villains, Lee Grant has just the right touch, and Diane Lane has never been more stunning or more credible in a role. The Big Town is not a big movie, but it is a good one.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The movie aint Citizen Kane, more like, Citizen (Diane) Lane, December 23, 2001
By A Customer
I give it a 5 star rating. why? Cause Diane Lane is such a hotty! I grew up with Dillion/Lane in the Outsiders and Rumble Fish, (two other great movies), and I always had a jones for Diane Lane (I guess so did Francis Ford Coppola). And to see her in this movie as a stripper, well, what can I say, it really floats my boat. This movie is my "guilty pleasure"....I dont care that everyone hates it, I love it! (Today's movie making is nothing to brag about, anyway).
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dice players rejoyce, June 18, 2002
I first stumbled across this movie on cable in the late 80's. I loved it then and still do today. Great story, great casting, great acting & great period film making. Diane Lane is not to shabby either as a strippin' diva with a taste for the fast life. Matt Dillon plays a complete craps stud who can win any dice game no matter the stakes or cash on the table. Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Skerrit, Bruce Dern & Lee Grant all contribute with awesome performances to this "Gem Club" of a movie. I sincerely hope we'll all be lucky enough for this title to be available soon on DVD. Heck, I'd love to have a DVD with tons of extras too if it was up to me but it it's not. I can always dream though...
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