The Big Town [DVD]

Sometimes the details make a film. This 1987 film is set in the "Big Town" -- Chicago of 1957 and features a nostalgic period soundtrack of rock, blues, and country. In the tangled story, a young man from the country, Cullen (Matt Dillon) comes to Chicago to seek his fortune playing craps. One of his romantic interests is a young single mother, Agie, (Suzy Amis) with aspirations to become a pioneering woman disk jockey. In the romantic scenes between Cullen and Agie, Ivory Joe Hunter's piano and vocals in the 1957 blues "Since I met you baby" forms what in opera would be called a leitmotif. It is a wonderful song in any genre, classic blues with a beautiful piano line and appropriate for the time and the film. I loved being reminded of it and hearing it in the film:"Since I met you baby my whole life has changedSince I met you baby my whole life has changedAnd everybody tells me that I am not the same."More broadly, I thought "The Big Town" worked more because of its atmosphere than because of the story. Several plots come together in this story of a young man who has luck and skill with the dice. The movie has an old noir feel, but in garish color. It offers a portrait of sleaze in 1950s Chicago replete with busy streets, bright lights and come-on storefronts, crooks, illegal craps games, violence, corrupt lawyers, decrepit hotels, and strip clubs. Every character has a past and a tough present. Dianne Lane performs a brief striptease and fan dance. And as I mentioned there is the intoxicating 1950's music, including "Since I met you baby" which is a thing of beauty amid the tawdry."I don't need nobody to tell my troubles toI don't need nobody to tell my troubles toCause since I met you baby all I need is you."Cullen, the Matt Dillon character, is a mostly unlikable young man with a skilled arm and a head for craps. Among other things, Cullen has two affairs during his time in Chicago, with the good and the bad girl, the single mom and aspiring disk jockey, and the married woman, stripper, and slut. But with "Since I met you baby" Cullen isn't going to lose. The film somehow works to a point where Cullen has a chance to redeem his life."Since I met you baby I'm a happy manSince I met you baby I'm a happy manAnd I'm gonna try to please you in every way I can.""The Big Town" didn't get a lot of attention when it was released in 1987 and still receives mixed responses. I enjoyed the film for its Chicago atmosphere, for its good acting, for its soundtrack, and for the classic Ivory Joe Hunter song.Robin Friedman

Since I first saw this movie, it became a big favorite of mine. Truly don't understand why it isn't held in higher regard and believe it is very underrated! Maybe not the most original story, but still a decent one, and with a really good cast. . . Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Dern, Lee Grant, and Tom Skerritt? I mean c'mon now - those are some pretty big names! And Tommy Lee Jones plays a great villain in this! Got to disagree with some of the rough professional reviews that can be seen on IMDB.com, and if you check out the "customer reviews" here - there hardly are any!So again - I really think a lot of people somehow simply missed this one.I'd recommend it.

Sure its not the most original story ever, but it keeps a good pace and level of suspense. The Critics on RottenTomatoes didn't seem too keen on it, and I *usually* agree with RT. But not this time. I Love the way the setting of another time is shown in so many details. The cafeterias, the bus stations, flop house hotels and back offices, the dive bars, the music, its all great stuff. And the burlesque dance scenes... whoo, very hot. Diane Lane and Matt Dillon are in their prime and at their best in this film.

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.

"The Big Town" doesn't break any cinematic ground but it's more than worth your while. How can you go wrong with a film that sports two Oscar winners(Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Grant) and three nominees(Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Bruce Dern) in the cast? Director Ben Bolt imbues the film with terrific period atmosphere and the selection of rock, rhythm and blues, and country and western music is impeccable. The film has a gritty sensiblity reminiscent of classic film noir. Dillon is fine as the kid from Indiana with a knack for dice rolling who seeks his fame and fortune in the seedy backrooms of Chicago. It's Jones, however, who steals the picture in an understated turn as the film's ostensible villain. Jones doesn't have to say a word. Just a squint of his eyes and a look at his craggy visage says it all. Good character turns from vets Grant and Dern as the couple who bankroll Dillon's endeavors. The two women in Dillon's life, Lane's exotic dancer and Suzy Amis' aspiring DJ are kind of underwritten. These two are kind of cliched in representing the good girl/bad girl dichotomy. The promised showdown between Dillon and Jones is kind of a fizzle. Another disappointment is Lane's less than erotic fan dance.

Nice costumes and set pieces but nothing more than a way to kill a couple of hours. Lots of A list actors and pretty people but superficial and shallow fantasy about the allure of gambling and casual sex. Written by and for pre-adolescents.

An average movie about gambling.

ce film est très sympathique même si je l'ai commandé par erreur. En effet, le casting que j'ai consulté annonçait David James Elliot alors qu'il n'en fait pas partie .... dommage pour moi qui suis une fan de cet acteur dont, malheureusement, peux de films sont audibles ou sous titrés en français

Super gambling movie, this would be great in a blu ray release.