"LOOKIN’ TO GET OUT"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: * (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jon Voight as ALEX KOVAC Ann-Margret as PATTI WARNER Burt Young as JERRY FELDMAN Bert Remsen as SMITTY Jude Farese as HARRY Angelina Jolie as TOSH Rated R Own it on DVD on June 30 Official Warner Home Video Site Studio: Warner Bros. Directed by: Hal Ashby Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
When “Lookin’ to Get Out” was getting ready for its theatrical release in 1982, the studio had some differences of opinion with director Hal Ashby, and they changed his cut of the film for final release. Only a few years ago, co-writer and star Jon Voight discovered Ashby’s lost cut in the USC archives. As part of Warner Home Video’s Director’s Showcase: Take 4, Warner Bros. has now released the DVD of “Lookin’ to Get Out,” a story of two chronic gamblers conning a big score in Las Vegas, with the original director’s cut.
WHAT I LIKED
I may not have personally liked this movie, but I can respect it. The film, which follows Alex Kovac (Jon Voight) and Jerry Feldman (Burt Young) as compulsive gamblers from New York who make a trip out to Las Vegas for a big win, is a classic buddy comedy, although it’s definition of “classic” seems to be lost on a modern audience.
Co-written by Voight, there’s a lot of truth in the movie, which is constructed of what appears to be almost improved scenes with the actors. Using this fly-on-the-wall technique on many of the scenes, Ashby gives us a somewhat realistic interpretation of the characters’ interactions.
The biggest reason I respect this film is that I offer kudos to Jon Voight for finding and releasing this director’s cut. Whether it’s better or worse for an average audience member, it’s always nice to see the true vision of a director fully realized, albeit post-humorously.
The added bonus is a chance to see a six-year-old Angelina Jolie (long before the tattoos, the international baby adoption and the Jennifer Aniston homewrecker status) as Ann-Margaret’s daughter Tosh. If you’re going to watch this film, even if you don’t like it, it’s almost worth sitting through (or at least fast-forwarding through) to get a glimpse of this future Oscar winner before all her baggage and familial estrangement happened.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I have to admit that I was a bit bored with this film. While I understand and somewhat respect the apparent improv style for this movie, it did tend to lend itself to redundant and useless dialogue. Sure, it gave the actors a realistic medium in which to build their characters, but I just wasn’t interested in them rambling to each other.
Also, because this film was made in 1982 and has the distinction of being the first movie filmed in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas is a much different place today, both in real life and cinematically. This movie has the same feel of the old Las Vegas and has no spark when put up against modern Vegas films like the “Oceans” movies, the numerous TV shows in Sin City or even just a trip up the strip yourself.
I didn’t care much about the characters in this movie, and it seems like one of those films that was more relevant in its initial days of release than for someone who was more into Star Wars figures and Indiana Jones films at the time, like myself.
DVD FEATURES
In addition to the theatrical trailer, the “Lookin’ to Get Out” DVD includes a seventeen-minute retrospective featurette that brings the cast back together to give their thoughts on the film as well as the new cut discovered by Voight. In some ways, this is even more interesting than the feature film itself.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the original film from 1982... and Jon Voight.
