Let it ride (3 Stars)

In this light-hearted comedy Richard Dreyfuss stars as Jay Trotter, a taxi driver and compulsive gambler. The film begins with him swearing to his wife to quit gambling. As a typical non-gambler she thinks of "gambling" and "losing" as synonyms. In Jay's case this is true. The very next day he overhears passengers talking about a horse that is sure to win a fixed race. He goes to the race track, places a $50 bet and wins $710. Convinced that this is his lucky he bets his winnings on a second horse ("letting it ride") and wins again. A series of bets makes him richer and richer.

I had never heard of this film before today. I watched it on Netflix after searching for films made by Jennifer Tilly. She's made over 50 films, but I've hardly seen any of them. In what I've seen she seems to be typecast as a slutty bimbo, a role she plays so well. In "Let it ride" she plays Vicki, a gold digger dating a rich gambler. For me the film was only interesting because of her breasts spilling out of the top of her tight dress. The film's humour, most of which comes from the social interactions of the eccentric gamblers at the race track, wasn't funny enough to make me want to watch it again.

In recent years Jennifer Tilly has made a name for herself as a highly successful professional poker player, frequently appearing in televised tournaments. Everyone must be asking the same question: how do the other players manage to concentrate on their cards? She's a woman who always wins.