“One Last Ride”

It’s time for another venerable genre to take the spotlight: the addiction movie. These are the films where someone just can’t seem to quit some kind of addiction, and spends the movie either slipping further toward certain demise or miraculously overcoming the monkey on their back. They are just too numerous to mention here, and the Phantom will not be so foolhardy as to attempt to do so and risk leaving a good one out.

Addiction movies are no stranger to the Late Nite Landfill. A couple weeks ago, Channel 7 ran “Falling Sky,” about Indy Jone’s #1 gal pal Karen Allen fighting demon alcohol. In May, they aired “Phoenix,” a film about a cop with a weakness for poker chips and slot machines. And it seems that in any given movie in Channel 7’s late nite slot, there’s somebody who’s addicted to sex. Or mob hits. Now comes this Saturday’s movie, “One Last Ride.” Like “Phoenix,” this one explores the pursuit of gambling highs, but in a much more straightforward, traditional way (focusing on one man’s addiction in a realistic light, as opposed to making it part of a multi-layered storyline of conmen and crooked cops on the take).

A good rule of thumb is to be leery of films that are “produced” or “presented by” famous directors, for example Martin Scorcese or Quentin Tarantino. The video store shelves are lined with such lackluster efforts. What makes them lackluster? The obvious: they’re not actually directed by Martin Scorcese, he’s just being used as a brand name to lay over the main brand. Like Scooby-Doo-branded Snausage snacks for dogs or Budweiser-branded barbecue and grilling sauces.

“One Last Ride” falls into the same category. Ang Lee is an executive producer on this film and his name is prominently mentioned in the trailer. Lee of course is the Oscar® winning director of several critically acclaimed movies. His most lauded film is also about some folks who just can’t quit something, while his most well-known movie is sort of about addiction – if you count getting so angry that people wouldn’t like you when you’re angry as an addiction.

An interesting aside: this gambler's main "high" of choice seems to be the ponies. Could it be possible that the programmers at Channel 7 actually purposely scheduled this the same weekend as the Belmont Stakes, on the eve of a potential triple crown victor?

The main trio of characters is portrayed by television actors.

The addict is played by an actor whose main work appears to be scattered TV guest-shot roles but no ongoing roles, but that’s no surprise – Patrick Cupo also happens to be the writer and producer of the film.

His best friend in the film is played by Joe Marinelli, who also has a lot of guest-credits in prime-time but regular featured roles on various soaps... including a stint as a cross-dressing mafioso named Bunny on “Santa Barbara.”

Playing the wife is Anita Barone, who actually did have a couple of recurring TV roles, most notably the wife in the short-lived Michael Rappaport sitcom “The War at Home,” and netted a “best actress” award for this film from “Methodfest” (who knew method actors had their own awards ceremonies? Marlon Brando must be “role”-ing over in his grave!)

Of greater interest here, as is usually the case here at the Landfill, are the supporting performances.

Jack Carter is a classic stand-up comedy star who has popped up everywhere including Broadway, TV and movies. And Vegas, of course. Trivia time: he played Arthur Spooner in the “King of Queens” pilot, but when it became a series the role went to Jerry Stiller.

Chazz Palminteri has become a staple in movies with both mobster and cop roles. He rose to prominence on TV’s “Wiseguy” but really broke out once his one-man play, “A Bronx Tale” took off and was ultimately chosen by Robert DeNiro to be the first film he directed.

Charles Durning… where to begin? A lifetime of extraordinary character roles. Just go to your Netflix account, do a search on him and start adding his films to your queue. In fact, a couple of great “bookend” roles are his wonderful detective in “The Sting” and his equally wonderful (and much more irascible but still lovable with age) incumbent politician in “O, Brother Where Art Thou?”

Robert Davi belongs to the Phantom’s “coolest actors of the modern era” club. That exclusive club includes such awesome character actors as Bruce Campbell – Sam Raimi’s favorite muse, Lance Henriksen – Bishop from the “Alien” movies, Robert Patrick – of “Terminator 2” and “X-files” fame, Eric Roberts – of a bazillion cool flicks, and of course, the incomparable Christopher Walken. You’d do well to do a Netflix search on Davi, too… or as he suggests, Google him!

View the trailer here:



Or watch the entire movie on WABC-TV Channel 7 on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 11:35 PM… if you dare!