My review was written in January 1991 after watching the film on Prism video cassette.
Matthew Modines' enthusiasm is the distinguishing feature of "The Gamble" a/k/a "The Match", a lush-looking but campy Italian film aimed at the world market.
It probably would take a filmmaker of Stanley Kubrick's caliber, in a "Barry Lyndon" mood, to put across this stale material of a young rake in period dress gamboling across the Italian countryside with mean Faye Dunaway in pursuit. Casting Yank talent is not enough to crack the American maket, where pic recently bowed in video store.
Modine's tragic error is gambling with noblewoman Dunaway after she's cleaned out his dad (Ian Bannen). To make the wager interesting (they're gambling with spinning tops instead of dice), he has to bet himself and she wins.
Modine violently escapes the villainess' clutches, and "Gamble" turns into a medieval road movie. In Verona, he teams up with Jennifer Beal and the duo is pursued by Dunaway's evil henchmen.
Along the way, Modine has sexual dalliances with many beautiful women, including French "Story of O" star Corinne Clery. When Dunaway finally catches up with him, the payoff is a throwback to her campy "The Wicked Lady" image as she bests him in a swordfight. Finale is very disappointing.
Modine is dashing but like the other American lead players, he is not convincing in the role as they use no accents. Supporting cast is dubbed acceptably into English, but some conventions should have been followed to develop convincing Italian roles. Dunaway and Beals are glamorous, and the locations an eyeful.
Matthew Modines' enthusiasm is the distinguishing feature of "The Gamble" a/k/a "The Match", a lush-looking but campy Italian film aimed at the world market.
It probably would take a filmmaker of Stanley Kubrick's caliber, in a "Barry Lyndon" mood, to put across this stale material of a young rake in period dress gamboling across the Italian countryside with mean Faye Dunaway in pursuit. Casting Yank talent is not enough to crack the American maket, where pic recently bowed in video store.
Modine's tragic error is gambling with noblewoman Dunaway after she's cleaned out his dad (Ian Bannen). To make the wager interesting (they're gambling with spinning tops instead of dice), he has to bet himself and she wins.
Modine violently escapes the villainess' clutches, and "Gamble" turns into a medieval road movie. In Verona, he teams up with Jennifer Beal and the duo is pursued by Dunaway's evil henchmen.
Along the way, Modine has sexual dalliances with many beautiful women, including French "Story of O" star Corinne Clery. When Dunaway finally catches up with him, the payoff is a throwback to her campy "The Wicked Lady" image as she bests him in a swordfight. Finale is very disappointing.
Modine is dashing but like the other American lead players, he is not convincing in the role as they use no accents. Supporting cast is dubbed acceptably into English, but some conventions should have been followed to develop convincing Italian roles. Dunaway and Beals are glamorous, and the locations an eyeful.