Stars: Stacy Edwards, Balthazar Getty, Daniel London, Olivia Williams, Tim Curry, Forest Whitaker, George Lazenby, John Taylor

Director: Paul Rachman

Summary: Four friends get in over their heads when they try to make a bigtime heist. They pull off the job, stealing a small, but priceless sculpture. Immediately, the sculpture is missing and the novice group of thieves find themselves burdened with a debt to a crime lord that they cannot pay. Their desperate attempt at saving at least some of their lives is to have each member of the crew take out a $1 million life insurance policy. Each then draws a playing card that will designate whose life is to be spared in order to pay the crime boss and allow the others to live.

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An entry in the recent rash of crooks-falling-out cynical crime-comedy noirs, Four Dogs Playing Pokeropens with a robbery at a wedding in Buenos Aires. Five friends pose as staff and guests to penetrate the secret collector's vault of lecherous father-of-the-bride George Lazenby and walk away with a valuable dancing-girl statue. Back in Los Angeles, the team are visited by their sponsor, hefty guest-star crook Forrest Whitaker, who tells them there's a question as to whether the statue is on the ship that's supposed to be smuggling it into the country. If it doesn't show up they'll have to cough up a million dollars between them or get killed. To underline the point and in the first of many "it-just-doesn't-make-sense" plot turns, Whitaker has his men shoot Tim Curry, organiser of the gang, in the leg and then, to show that trying to leave town is a bad idea, has him hung up dead in a meat locker with his feet chain sawed off (offscreen) by the comedy British double-act thugs. An unbelievably complicated scheme is hatched between the surviving four, two couples, whereby they each take out insurance policiesthat benefit the rest and pick cards and safety-deposit box-keys that identify one of them as the designated murderer and another as a victim. Naturally, suspicions simmer (one character, when asked if she distrusts her friends, replies "all my friends are thieves") and triple-crosses are hatched. The prolific Olivia Williams, in Lulu wig and American accent, emerges as the star, walking a knife-edge between imperilled heroine and cynical manipulator but she is ably supported by druggie, computer savvy Daniel London, hunky bartender Balthazar Getty and jittery insurance functionary Stacy Edwards. Familiar, if watchable. --Kim Newman

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Trailer, Animated And Scored Interactive Menus
Year:	1999
Release Date:	May 14, 2001
Runtime:	93 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M T D 5033
Keywords:	Dogs, General, Four, Wide, Screen, Playing, Poker, Thriller
Genre:	Thriller