Lookin to Get Out (1982)
Former editor Hal Ashby died in 1988 of pancreatic cancer at age fifty eight, having made on only eleven feature length narrative films. Included in his oeuvre are classics like Shampoo; Being There; Coming Home; Harold and Maude; and The Last Detail. Ashby, who’d worked with actor Jon Voight in Coming Home, agreed to direct a script penned by Voight and first time screenwriter Al Schwartz that was based on some of Schwartz’ experiences as a gambler. The plot follows two New York City roommates/friends, who are being pursued for a debt owed to a local thug.
Though released in 1982 the film has a very 70s free flowing feel, or least this cut of the film does. The version that was re-edited (against Ashby’s wishes) and released theatrically was received poorly at the time. Years later a print of the film representing Ashby’s actual cut was located at UCLA (he’d donated it to them) and it serves as the basis for this long awaited DVD release. Though it may not stand up to some of Ashby’s very best, Lookin to Get Out is still a nicely eccentric, engaging comedy that has long been wrongly neglected.
Voight plays Alex Kovac, a gambling addicted joker who finds himself funnier than everyone else seems to. He’s a typical fast-talking hustler, self-absorbed and living for the moment. After winning $15,000 at the track, Voight proceeds to pay off a few bills, and then loses all the money and then some in an after hours poker game. Though he’s in imminent danger, Alex continually expresses the philosophy that you can’t look to the past; you have to look ahead. No matter how bad things are going, Alex is determined to find the bright side. As he says early on, “I had a great day… yesterday.”
Alex’s roommate, buddy, and partner-in-crime is the schlubby soft-touch Jerry Feldman (Burt Young), who finds himself guilty by association. At one point Jerry describes Alex as a “guy you want to have around if you’re in trouble”, although, he adds, he’s “probably the guy who got you into trouble in the first place.” One step away from the angry thugs, Alex and Jerry make there way to Vegas, checking into the MGM Grand (it was the first movie filmed there) under false pretenses.
As Alex tries to scheme a way out of the mess, they run into Voight’s ex, the beautiful former hooker Patti Warner (Ann-Margret), who is connected to the hotel. She wants no part of Alex’s shenanigan’s, but is still harboring hurt from their breakup six years earlier, and potentially some unresolved feelings for her former beau. Margret is quite good as a woman clearly carrying the accumulated pain of a life spent on the strip, conflicted because she would like to help Alex, but knowing the kind of damage he can cause in his wake.
Bert Remsen co-stars as a broken-down, alcoholic hotel waiter who used to be a big time gambler. Look for a very early appearance from Voight’s daughter, Angelina Jolie, as Tash. Reminiscent of similar quality buddy films like Altman’s California Split and Midnight Cowboy(in which Voight also starred). A tonally offbeat oddity that will be a mystery to some viewers, but is an absolute must for Ashby fans.