The Cincinnati Kid

REVIEW
If Steve McQueen is the ultimate man's man, and Edward G. Robinson is the ultimate man's villain, and Ann-Margret is the ultimate man's woman, and poker is the ultimate man's man's game, well, it's easy to understand why The Cincinnati Kid is so freakin' awesome. Hell, they even play 5-card stud at the climax. No one has the balls to play that game anymore. One can only wonder how much testosterone this film would have contained had Sam Peckinpah not been fired and replaced by Norman Jewison.

There are twin stories of machismo at the core of this story: A poker rivalry between "the kid" (McQueen) and "the man" (Robinson), with the implication that whoever is tougher at the poker table will win the money. There is also a soap opera, with Melba (Ann-Margret) likely shacking up with whoever wins the kitty.

There are also plenty of diverting subplots along the way, notably the kid's apprenticeship under Shooter (Karl Malden)... who also happens to be Melba's husband. There's plenty of backroom cardsharpery, and an enjoyably tense atmosphere leading to a fairly unpredictable ending. Poker fans will be howling in disbelief at the final hand, which is played just horribly by at least one of the parties, but in this movie, poker is a metaphor for life and not a game of math. And that's just the way it should be, dammit.