Powerful

Better Late Then Never

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Jay Trotter (Richard Dreyfuss) is a superstitious habitual gambler. His fellow cab driver Looney (David Johansen) has a secret microphone in the backseat. It records insider information on a horse race. Despite promising his estranged wife Pam (Teri Garr), he places a bet not considering it gambling. It comes up a winner but he can't stop when he gets another tip.It has a light wacky view of degenerate gambling losers. It's not that funny but I like Dreyfuss' hopeless gambler character. His manic craziness gets fun sometimes. It's not big on laughs but there is an odd fun sense of this world. The group of weird characters are interesting. The movie does need actual jokes and actual laughs.

This film is a light-hearted comedic gem that received a rather unfair series of reviews by "professionals" who seem to be mostly interested only in content if it fits a cookie cutter slate for "Oscar Worthy". This is no Academy Award Winning movie, but it is entertaining, well done, and all around a joy to watch.The overall premise about an unlucky fellow turning his luck around while still trying to do right by his wife is touching and delivered in a sincere fashion if not a serious one. While Jay Trotter (Richard Dreyfuss) may seem like a shallow, self-obsessed character it becomes evident through his actions and eventual decision to "Let it Ride" that he has a level of complexity to him. In the end it is a story about the underdog getting his due.If you haven't seen this film and are on the fence I highly recommend you give it a try. The professional reviews about it are mainly the same dry "It won't win an Oscar" crud that you expect from professional reviewers watching a movie that was not meant for Oscar Candidacy anyway. Take it for what it is: a funny film about a man turning his life around with just a little bit of luck and a lot of perseverance.

Director Jay Pytka delivers the perfect film about gamblers at the racetrack. Pytka carefully constructs the life of Cab Driver Jay Trotter(Richard Dreyfuss) as the down on his luck gambler who just can't get a break. Pam(Terri Garr) the somewhat understanding and tolerant wife is terrific. Dreyfuss plays it to the hilt and it is Academy Award winning material as he captures the downs, mostly, of life as a gambler, who needs that one break to get his life on track(pun intended).Finally, overhearing a tip on a "live" long shot, Dreyfuss heads for the track to try and collect a large bet, and prove to himself, that his life has meaning, and then the action begins.Heartwarming, hilarious, touching, as the film captures almost every character who goes to the track, and the sociology associated with them. From all walks of life people go to the track, it is the ultimate melting pot, where you can wager for or against each other.Like war, this game has significant social meaning, that while you can win, taking the other persons money, while being a better handicapper, is more fun and positive, than destroying them on the battlefield.This film is almost perfect, but still gets a 10 out of 10.Dreyfuss has never been better.

A good friend of mine drug me out to Beulah Park racetrack for my first time back in 1990. Over the years I've become a passionate horseplayer and I've watched as the subject of my passion has withered with the onset of the internet. Horseracing attendance at most small tracks has plummeted, while the "handle", or amount bet on the racing at a given track has generally increased. Most people sit at home and watch and play on the internet. But I'm here to tell you- when I first watched Let It Ride, I could quickly associate just about every character in the movie with a character I knew at Beulah. My favorite part of the movie is when Trotter polls friends, strangers, anyone, about who they liked in a given race. He immediately scratched their selection off !! When he was down to one horse left on his list, that was his wager. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the track amongst six or seven friends, and the only horse that won was the one none of us had bet on !! What a great movie about a subculture that only still exists at the big New York, Florida, Kentucky, and California racetracks. Horseplayers are an interesting group, to say the least, and this movie does a great job capturing the typical personas that you'll find at the track. Its Post Time !!