The movie shows his compulsion in full glory as he gets emotional over losing, winning, and at the seemingly universal contempt most people have for him. He runs into a gal that seems to bring him luck, Suzie, and he pays her to gamble with him. As he gets to know her (both before his offer and after), we see several of his quirks where he willingly cheats her (just a bit) and beats her (again, just a bit) as things get out of hand. As his luck leaves him, he gets desperate and is approached by another gambler, Clochard, that is looking for someone well known that can lose big, in order to provide him a cover as he cheats. Clochard's system of cheating is all but infallible in his eyes and the two make a killing after Suzie leaves. Eventually though, Elric's compulsion to gamble gets the better of him; he doesn't gamble to win or the cheating would be enough for him but when he runs into Suzie again, the sparks fly as the two work out a system of their own.

As a character study, the movie succeeds in spades but only in a very limited manner. I never thought of Elric as anything other than a scumbag who'd be better taking a long walk off a short pier. Suzie wasn't much better and Clochard's fate was almost enough to make me warm to certain aspects of the movie. Too many aspects of the characters were left out for me to fully appreciate their plight and limitations although the acting was well done in most cases. I think the direction and writing of the show complimented the acting but the story still left me cold. The technical limitations of the movie, it was low budget and made nearly 20 years ago, weren't so bad but always present. To sum it all up, I think that the movie was worth a rating of Rent It for those looking for a foreign movie that was well off the beaten track.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.66:1 ratio widescreen color. There were a number of print scratches but I doubt very much that the movie was ever pristine to begin with. The colors were somewhat faded on a regular basis and there was no "true" black for the purists. I noticed some artifacts but the transfer was generally decent considering the source material problems.

Sound: The sound was presented in monaural French with optional English subtitles. It was spotty too but matched the picture on several levels. I would've guessed it was made in the late 1960's though for the limitations observed.

Extras: The extras weren't really special this time. There was an essay, Sharps and Cheats, by gambling specialist and author Christopher "Spindoctor" Pawlicki that wasn't too bad. It provided some very solid background on the origins of Roulette and cheating at the game as well. There was a trailer and an interview with the director as well as chapter listings on the essay/paper insert.

Final Thoughts: I don't think this one had a lot of replay value but it might provide an interesting diversion for open-minded moviegoers. The anti-hero lead was never someone you'd root for but watching his ability to mess up a sure thing was a very telling portrait of human nature. I think the French are very good at describing loser personalities (maybe it's the wealth of choices they have all around them) and this was, for all its limitations, worth checking out.