Twenty-five large buys hard-time con Hank McCain (John Cassavetes) a parole so he can take part in a Vegas casino heist, but when the job is called off, McCain decides to go it on his own, despite knowing whose money he's planning on boosting. The nihilistic story is cold and hard and as such, a perfect fit for Cassavetes smouldering persona. Peter Falk is quite good as volatile mob underboss Charlie Adamo who sets things in motion (if the film was made in the 90's, the part would have been a perfect fit for Joe Pesci). Gabriele Ferzetti is also good as Don Francesco DeMarco, a menacing New York capo. On the distaff side, classic 60's beauty Britt Ekland is along as McCain's moll and Gena Rowlands has a small but strong role as McCain's tough former partner/lover. Unfortunately, the story is not up to the cast. The central heist is simple enough to be realistic but no explanation is provided as to why the vault door seems to have been left partly open during the evacuation and later both McCain and the pursuing mod-underlings seem to make elementary mistakes, which undermines their characterisations as experienced and competent gangsters (McCain continues to return to old haunts even when he knows he's being hunted; and what wise-guy would allow a hard-case ex-con to put her hand in her purse shortly after threatening her with torture). With a little more attention to detail, this could have been a classic 60's neo-noir gangster film. Too bad, but the soundtrack is good and the images of Las Vegas at its flashiest/trashiest are fun.
Review of Machine Gun McCain
