Customer Reviews

Thursday's Game [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first caught this little gem in the wee small hours of a Sunday morning, after a very late night out, on one of our main TV Networks here in Australia. I laughed so hard in many of the scenes and am still convinced it's probably one of Gene Wilder's best performances - similar at times to his wonderful take on Leo Bloom in the masterpiece 'The Producers'. It's a pretty simple tale of two close mates dealing with a series of problems that life has thrown up at them but handled so subtly and with great understanding for its characters. There's a great cast here in fine form including Ellen Burstyn, Chloris Leachman, Valerie Harper and a young Rob Reiner in a rather zany role as Gene Wilder's agent, who doesn't realise he's his agent. A very funny scene. Thursday's Game is a very perceptive and often hilarious look at famliy and friendship set against life in the Big Apple.I agree a re-make might be a good idea but I have the feeling it's the kind of story that sits very comfortably in the '70s.

I stumbled across this little gem in the wee small hours of a Sunday morning on one of the TV Networks here in Australia some 15 years ago and fell in love with its simple tale. Gene Wilder is probably in his finest form here and really strikes up a nice chemistry with Bob Newhart in the role of his very straight-laced poker playing buddy who's going through a mid-life crisis. Great cast including Ellen Burstyn, Chloris Leachman, Valerie Harper and watch out for a cameo by Rob Reiner as Gene Wilder's pretty zany agent, who doesn't realise he's his agent. Very funny scene. A low key little film but well worth the investment for its perceptive themes of friendship, family and life in New York. I agree a re-make would be a good idea but somehow this story sits too well in the '70's.

A forgotten TV Movie with an excellent cast, strong script and solid, if unexciting direction. Gene Wilder and Bob Newhart are two businessmen who continue to meet up in secret after their weekly poker game ends. Not a lot really happens and there is nothing earth-shattering, but it does a very nice job of examining marriage, love and life just before middleage. Written by James L. Brooks I am suprised no one in Hollywood has thought to create a remake. A great value at the price and if you have broadband internet access it can also be viewed for free from...

Seeing Gene Wilder and Bob Newhart in the cast, I expected more of a comedy. This probably not what you might expect, so be forewarned, it is more a light drama with some dark satire sprinkled in. Gene Wilder is a TV producer whose show is steadily sliding in the ratings so he is hunting another job before the axe falls. His one night out a week at a small stakes poker game is his one escape from life's pressures, which ends when the stakes are raised and the losers refuse to pay. What happens now is Wilder and Newhart decide to tell their wives the game is still on-going so they can get out once a week. Wilder loses his job, starts to lose his family and becomes thoroughly depressed. The question through the movie is how much bad news can this guy take and will he ever get it together? The ending is mildly cliche but certainly works. Ellen Burstyn is very attractive as the wife though for the whole movie, I could not really get why she was angry at times. All in all, not what I expected, no major laughs, but it holds you if you like family drama, a man handling crisis and spots of dark humor. Btw, Cloris Leachman is very good the few minutes she is on camera.

this movie was kinda funny, if you consider that many people don't believe that watching the chemistry created when actors and actresses speak is, in a small way, part of the reality that most people try to sometimes abrogate, that is, treat with skepticism partially because some, not all, seem to ramble about in a circumlocatory fashion (in circles) without ever really understanding the point for which they stand.