If you were led to think that Bob Rafelson, who made the remarkable anti-establishmentarian movie Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson, created magic with the legendary thespian twenty-five years later with Blood and Wine, you would be left disappointed… I was. A thriller as straightforward as it can get, the movie is about a jewel theft gone awry and, with each trying to get a slice of everyone else, how that ends up nearly destroying everyone around. With hardly any likeable characters, and a climax that doesn’t appear very smart despite, presumably, the director’s best efforts, the movie might keep you glued with its intense and taut buildup, but will cease to be on your mind once the end credits have rolled. Perhaps one of the few reasons that might be there to watch the movie lies in the volcanic presence of, you guessed it, Jack Nicholson – he is in his elements as an embittered, cynical, violent and near-broke wine merchant. The best scenes in the movie, in fact, are the ones involving his volatile and fragile friendship-of-convenience with a near-psychotic and dying hustler, played with élan by Michael Caine
Director: Bob Rafelson
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Heist Movie
Language: English
Country: US
