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Excellent performance by Peter Falk as a man of good values reduced to making a living as a bookie. He is wealthy in the love he shares with Tyne Daly in a very good performance as his loving wife. Timothy Hutton plays a useless drunken loser and Lauren Holly gives a fine performance as his loyal wife. Freddie Prinze Jr. gives a posterboy performance for just say no to cocaine.

Falk plays the owner of a local bar who has taken bets for a Mafia gambling ring for years, watching out for his customers and never letting them get in too far over their heads. But that all changes when a mobster appoints his hot-headed, drug-abusing nephew (Prinze) to be his new collection agent. The young gangster takes a huge bet from an out-of-work alcoholic (Hutton) who has been forbidden from gambling in the past, and when he can't pay it off, he demands the man's wife (Holly) give him her body as payment. The barkeep knows his new partner has gone too far -- but what can he do to stop him without endangering the lives of his family? Conflict between Vinnie and Tony is inevitable, and we spend most of this dark film in the grips of the building tension, waiting for it to happen.

Cast:
Peter Falk ............... Vinnie
Lauren Holly............ Marybeth
Timothy Hutton........ Frankie
Freddie Prinze Jr...... Tony
Tyne Daly ................ Ellen
Paul Lazar................. Rocky
Tony Sirico................ Locasso
Steve Sweeney.......... Angie
Roger Robinson........ Phil
Frank Vincent............ Pete
Colm Meaney............ Al Sheehan
Tonya Tyann Tullis.... Leah
Pamela Bel Anu.......... Jackie
Billy Strong................. Lenny
Gene Ruffini............... Maitre d'          

Also Known As: "Money Kings"
MPAA: Rated R for strong language, drug content and some violence.
Runtime: 90 min
Country: USA
Language: English

 

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