Pretty Good

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I finally got around to watching the Cincinnati Kid, and it was well worth it. The story is basically about a young talent challening an old master over who will be top dog, but there's a lot more to it than that. I think this movie is a minor masterpiece, with two provisos: (1) there's a lot of time spent on poker scenes, and you have to know something about the rules and strategies of five card stud to appreciate it; (2) if special effects, car chases, creative bloodletting, or explicit sex scenes are are what turn you on, you won't find them here. Basically a low-budget film (except for the A-list cast), the film has beautiful writing (as one would hope, with Ring Lardner and Terry Sothern), beautiful camera work (thanks to unfairly unsung Phillip Lathrop), and perfect pacing (from director Norman Jewison). Edward G. Robinson is wonderful, as always; Steve McQueen plays his usual role as well as he ever did; and Tuesday Weld reminds us why she's considered one of the finest actresses of her generation. It seems like every important character has his or her own subplot, and you are never sure how it will all be resolved until the end.

Somewhere I read that at the heart of it, deep down in their souls, all hard core gamblers really want to lose…that they enjoy the pain and angst. Personally, I think that's complete bullshit. But "The Cincinnati Kid" is a profile of a stud playing expert, one Eric Stoner, played by Steve McQueen in one of his most memorable roles. By 1965 McQueen had become a screen superstar, following the release of "The Great Escape" in 63 and he would have about a 10 year run of top notch dramatic classics that would also include "Nevada Smith" "The Sand Pebbles" "Bullitt" and "Papillion" among some other solid offerings. In TCK McQueen is paired with screen legend Edward G. Robinson, who is brilliant as "the Man" Lancey Howard, regarded as the top stud poker player of his era. Their characters are similar to their real life personas…McQueen, like the Kid was an up and coming superstar while Robinson, like Lancey was now entering the twilight of a brilliant career, but not ready to step aside yet.TCK has a superb cast. Karl Malden is Shooter, the Kids mentor and seemingly only real friend. Ann Margaret plays his incredibly hot wife Melba, a complete slut and gold digger. She's one of those women men can't resist, even though they know she will only cause trouble and Ann is at her absolute sexiest in this role. Tuesday Weld turns in a surprisingly strong performance as the Kid's girlfriend Christian, who has moved to New Orleans from a farm in rural La. She and McQueen are in love but they both know that his top priority in life is stud poker. Speaking of which, the marathon poker game which is at the heart of this movie is done superbly. Also credit director Norman Jewison for keeping this moving at a steady clip, 102 minutes. I could easily see where other directors could have stretched this out to well over 2 hours, give us a lot of back story about McQueen's character. But we get virtually none-the Kid really had nothing except his ability to play poker. Whether he and Christian have any future together after the game is left for the audience to speculate.

"The Kid" (Steve McQueen) is the up-and-coming new player in the stud poker world. He travels from game to game, usually with the help of his buddy Shooter (Karl Malden), only to clean out his competition in good form. When Lancey "The Man" Howard comes to town, the Kid and Shooter arrange a high-stakes poker game with some of the best players around to find out who the real king of stud poker is.There have been a number of solid poker movies throughout the years, with the most recent being the Matt Damon vehicle "Rounders," a film which basically spurred the "poker boom" back in the early 2000s (along with donkey Chris Moneymaker's World Series of Poker win in 2003). One poker flick that's never forgotten in the wide array of films in the subgenre is 'The Cincinnati Kid.' The film features one of Steve McQueen's most legendary performances (in a long list of great roles) and puts him alongside such other great actors like Karl Malden, Rip Torn, and oh-so-sexy Ann-Margret.One issue that has come along with this film is that it does feature a LOT of poker, but what really works about the poker scenes is that it's more about the characters than the actual game. The dialogue, the staredowns, and everything else at the table works so well that it never, ever gets boring. Away from the table, there are some terrifically formed bonds between the friendship of Shooter & the Kid, along with the Kid's relations with girlfriend Christian (Tuesday Weld) and Melba (Ann-Margret). Including this additional drama helps to round out the film into something entertaining and interesting for all viewers, whether they be poker fans or not.Overall, while I do, as a poker player and cinema enthusiast, prefer 'Rounders' slightly, 'The Cincinnati Kid' is one of the best films you can find on the subject. It's just a shame that McQueen wasn't around long enough to have a showdown between The Kid and Mike McDermott.Final Verdict: 9/10.-AP3-

Steve McQueen plays the title role of the Cincinnati Kid; a young, up-and-coming poker player. The backdrop of the movie is 1930's New Orleans where we are introduced to Lancey Howard (Edward G. Robinson), a famous master of the game and the best player in the country. Lancey is back in town and by word of mouth a game is quickly arranged for the two pro's. Kid's colleague Shooter (Karl Malden) is appointed the trusted dealer, but after an exclusive meeting with a head honcho named Slade (Rip Torn), Shooter is put into a corner and is forced to rig the game.Meanwhile, when Kid's girl Christian (Tuesday Weld) is out of town visiting her parents, he begins an unsteady relationship with Melba Nile, played by the beautiful Ann-Margret. Joan Blondell rounds out this great assemble as Lady Fingers, a respected card dealer and old friend of Lancey Howard."The Cincinnati Kid" is a pretty entertaining movie. Although I don't know anything about the rules of poker, and not absolutely certain if it's imperative for the audience to have a thorough knowledge on, director Norman Jewison is a great substitute for Sam Peckinpah, who was originally slated to direct. Jewison's direction during the showdown between the Kid and the Man is very well done, creating suspense by the clean and natural turn of a card. The soundtrack is also really good here with Lalo Schifrin as the composer. Many viewers have already began to compare this movie with "The Hustler", the classic film about poolsharks made famous by Paul Newman just a few years before. "The Cincinnati Kid" could very well have been made to piggyback that highly acclaimed film.