SHE ATTEMPTED TO BEAT THE MOB AT THEIR OWN GAME.
Sensing that his whole family is marked for death by a New York City crime family, a Puerto Rican man forces his six-year-old son on a former mobster’s moll (Gena Rowlands). Director John Cassavetes’s thriller received mixed reviews, but does have gritty NYC locations that he uses expertly over the course of the story, and a strong performance by Rowlands as the woman who has to fight for a child she doesn’t care about. After a while it becomes obvious that the story has its limits but there’s some appeal in its central conflict, which reminds one of a good Western.
1980-U.S. 121 min. Color. Written and directed by John Cassavetes. Cast: Gena Rowlands (Gloria Swenson), Buck Henry (Jack Dawn), John Adames (Phil Dawn), Julie Carmen, Lupe Guarnica.
Trivia: Remade as Gloria (1999).
Venice: Golden Lion. Razzie: Worst Supporting Actor (Adames).
