Highly Overrated But Still Good

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The debonair gambler, Brady Hawkes,(Kenny Rogers) returns yet again, looking for his son Jeremiah united to Wild Bunch, formed by Butch Cassidy(Scott Paulin) and Sundance Kid(Brett Cullen). The Wild bunch flee to Bolivia and are followed by the Gambler, Etta Place(Mariska Hargitay) who, one time escaped from prison, cross country trip to Galveston and after sail in a ship, along with Pinkenton agents: DiMaggio(Richard Riehle) and Ford(Ned Vaughn). But in Bolivia the Wild Bunch is also wanted alive or dead.This is an agreeable Western with lots of familiar television stars and with historic characters, such as Cassidy, Sundance Kid, Etta Place , Pinkerton agents and Lilie Langtry,the Judge Roy Bean's sweetheart.As always at the beginning and the ending is heard the stunning song by Kenny Rogers-The Gambler. The plot gets certain similarly to successful film by George Roy Hill with Paul Newman( role of Scott Paulin), Robert Redford(role of Brett Cullen) and Katherine Ross(Maryska Hargitay). This picture is professionally directed by Jack Bender, an usual TV episodes director as : ¨Lost, Soprano, Alias¨, among others.Although various deeds are fictitious, this TV picture is based on real events, these are the following : Born Robert Parker(Butch Cassidy) and Harry Longbaugh(Sundance Kid). It seems they were eager to take up a life of crime. This notorious pair became rustlers in the mid-90, gaining fame as leaders of the Wild Bunch , a gang of train robbers. Butch adopted the name of Cassidy in admiration of Mike Cassidy, a rustler who taught him to shot and steal livestock, he was dubbed Butch from his short time working in butcher's shop. Still determined on a life of crime he formed a gang, and robbed banks and he moved into trains robberies after. One of the main gang was Sundance, they were sympathetic fellows described in a Pinkerton wanted poster as having an affable and cheerful manners. It is said that, though a crack shot , they never killed anybody and disliked gratuitous violence.They had the quick wit and strength of character to dominate more desperate men. With the Pinkerton and railroad agents hot on their trail, the Wild Bunch broke up and both sailed to South America after the turn of century and disappeared there, possibly dying in a shootout in 1909 near La Paz.

I love Kenny Rogers. I had his 1978 album, The Gambler, when I was in high school and college. I started watching The Gambler movies back in 1980 with the first Gambler movie, Kenny Rogers As The Gambler. It's become a series of movies over the pasttwenty-four years. The first two installments aired on CBS in the 1980s. The third and fourth installments aired on NBC around the same time. Kenny Rogers is Brady Hawks. Brady's the titulargambler. He and his sidekick, Billy Montana, traveled throughoutthe Old West seeking poker games. In this movie, it's two years after the San Francisco Earthquake, that's 1908. Brady's son,Jeremiah, has dropped out of Andover, and headed west hoping to meet up with his father. Jeremiah has fallen in with the WildBunch, the last outlaw gang of the Old West, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The ending was historically accurate---to a point. Recent forensic evidence has pointed to a murder-suicide in Bolivia. However, Butch Cassidy's family has never believed that Butch Cassidy died in Bolivia. There are also those who believethat the Sundance Kid died in the New Jersey State Prison. The conspiracy theories about Butch and Sundance, like those of the Kennedy Assassination, aren't going to go away.

I just won this movie off Ebay, and being a die-hard Mariska Hargitay fan, I was very pleased and entertained by this movie. If you enjoyed the previous Gambler movies, this one will not disappoint. It was very well-planned out and captivating right from the start. This movie is the story of Brady Hawkes trying to find his son, who has become tangled with Butch and the Sundance Kid's Wild Bunch. It follows their adventures through bank robberies, train explosions, and being chased by the Pinkertons. This movie is very historically accurate and very informative. The characters were genuinely portrayed, and it was interesting to see how the plot unfolded. It was also very interesting for me to see Ms. Hargitay in a western!!! Very entertaining and fun from start to finish!!