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Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Azizi Johari, Meade Roberts, Seymour Cassel ... see more see more... , Alice Friedland , Donna Gordon , Robert Phillips , Morgan Woodward , Virginia Carrington , John Kullers , Al Ruban , Soto Joe Hugh , Jack Ackerman , Val Avery , Vincent Barbi , Jean-Pierre Cassel , Elizabeth Deering , John Finnegan , Haji , David Rowlands , Hugo Soto , Frank Thomas , Kathalina Veniero , Jason Kincaid , Gene Darcy , Benny Marino , John Red Kullers , Timothy Agoglia Carey

John Cassavetes takes a contemporary film noir turn (which he would return to in Gloria) after exploring domestic melodrama in A Woman Under the Influence with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gaz... read more read more...zara plays Cosmo Vitelli, the owner of a sleazy Los Angeles strip joint, who loses $20,000 at a mob gambling club owned by a small time gangster (Seymour Cassel). Since Cosmo doesn't have the $20,000, he is forced to murder a Chinese bookie in order to clear his debt to the mob. What Cosmo doesn't know is he's part of a set-up. The bookie is actually a West Coast mob boss protected around the clock by bodyguards. The mobsters figure that Cosmo will be killed in an impossible hit and they can take over his nightclub. But Cosmo proves luckier than the mobsters think -- he manages to kill his target, and now the mobsters have to track down Cosmo and kill him. Initially, at 133 minutes, the movie was subsequently re-edited by Cassavetes to 109 minutes. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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83% liked it

4,247 ratings

Critics

80% liked it

15 critics

R, 1 hr. 49 min.

Directed by: John Cassavetes

Release Date: February 15, 1976

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DVD Release Date: April 6, 1999

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Stats: 306 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (306)

  • fb1664868775
    October 25, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Gazzara is amazing. But the real star is Cassavete's direction. The way this film slowly transforms is amazing.
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    Probably the coolest film ever made. Gazzara transfixes the audience and Cassavetes makes directing look easy. Its slow in places but it?s so smooth and stylish you will wish it was longer!
  • bottcorecords1
    February 14, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    Cosmo Vitelli is the owner of a strip club on the sunset strip in Los Angeles, and his business is slow. He's an ex-New Yorker who's re-located to L.A. and is trying to be a big shot, only he doesn't seem to get much respect, but boy, there sure is an air of impending doom surro... read moreunding the guy. He goes to the casino of a fellow club owner and tries to be a bigshot in front of his girls, but winds up with a $23,000 debt to what is clearly a mob family. In order to forgive his debt, they want him to kill a chinese bookie they claim owes them money. All is not as it seems to be though, neither with the set-up nor Cosmo Vitelli himself. The film itself isn't directed in a very accessible way, there's lots of random close-ups and off camera dialogue, but it is engrossing (it seems to slightly imitate the Scorsese style, and not just because of the gangster element). Anyway, since when does art always have to be assessible? The soundtrack is near barren, almost the only time music is heard is when the characters on the screen are hearing it. All Cosmo wants to do is run his nightclub and it seems he'll do anything to keep things normal. Perhaps even something crazy as he may be crazier than he let's on. There's more to this low budget crime drama than suspected at first as well.
  • tsigur
    January 25, 2008
    tsigur
    Gazzara in a tuxedo the whole time, I'll watch that any day of the fucking week.
  • mjgildea
    November 10, 2006
    mjgildea
    Such an awesome movie. It's more a work of art than a movie.
  • gator681
    April 22, 2009
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie," Cosmo Vitelli(Ben Gazzara) is the owner of the Crazy Horse West, modeled after the legendary Parisian nightspot, that is empty of customers until Mort Weil(Seymour Cassel) brings in three carloads of new customers one nig... read moreht. Cosmo, being a compulsive gambler, is immensely interested in visiting Mort's poker club in Santa Monica. When he does, he brings along three of his dancers as dates. Things go badly for Cosmo when he loses $23,000 in a single night and demonstrates an inability to pay.[/font]

    [font=Century Gothic]"The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" is a deeply cynical and downbeat character study that has less to do with Cosmo or the plot, such as it is, than with a depiction of Los Angeles(and symbolically Hollywood) as a gilded nightmare where women are exploited as decorative features. This is a city without a heart(or if you will a real downtown) and where driving directions are longer than some books. Like Cosmo, writer-director John Cassavetes was originally from New York and there is a current of homesickness that runs through the movie. Even though he runs a glorified strip joint, Cosmo does his best to bring class to the city and the orchids are a nice touch. But he errs badly when he is awed by Mort's gang when he should definitely know better.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]Note: This review is for the 135 minute version.[/font]
  • burgerstar
    March 10, 2012
    burgerstar
    Watch it for free online.
  • engrymfilm
    October 9, 2008
    engrymfilm
    The entire film flows perfectly. The camera lingers, the lighting sometimes flares and obscures the frame but everything feels natural
  • mikeboas
    May 18, 2008
    mikeboas
    People say director Cassavetes wanted audiences to work, and I get that, but I find it off-putting to do ALL the work. Ben Gazarra is terrific as a club owner behind the eight-ball, but I would have appreciated him more if I wasn't trying to work out the plot all the time. Cass... read moreavetes works without establishing shots or master shots. Like being thrown into the deep end of a pool, we the audience are thrown into scenes without warning, and it's up to us to sink or swim. Who is this guy he's giving money to? What's he doing at this bar, looking pathetic? Did he get shot back there? If so, why isn't he limping? While my mind is grasping for character motivation and plot points, I'm missing the movie. I picked this movie to see of the George Eastman House's Cassavetes series because it sounded the most action driven, but it's still essentially a character piece. Sure, there's some gun play and a good chase scene, but they don't pay off in the traditional way. I was reminded of Scorcese's Mean Streets and Who's that Knockin, but those character pieces had more bravado and fun characters to grab onto.
  • Jungian
    April 5, 2008
    Jungian
    Ben Gazzara gives a great performance in John Cassavetes' meditative tale about masculine posturing, identity and desperation.

View All The Killing of a Chinese Bookie Reviews

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Watching the film is like listening to someone use a lot of impressive words, the meanings of which are just wrong enough to keep you in a state of total confusion, but occasionally right enough to ho... Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

A postnoir masterpiece. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
May 15, 2009
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

This is my favorite John Cassavetes movie, perhaps because it's the most appealingly sleazy. Full Review

August 30, 2006
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Cassavetes' films can be annoying and enigmatic, but they are usually creative and interesting. Not so with this one. Full Review

Keith Phipps
November 29, 2004
Keith Phipps, AV Club

Gazzara plays a strip-club owner committed to staging sad, unsexy, decidedly personal semi-nude musical revues. Full Review

Christopher Null
October 19, 2004
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Heavy stuff, but it takes its sweet sweet time in getting to the point. Full Review

Jake Euker
July 8, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

Its only interest now is in its representation of its era.

Dennis Schwartz
August 18, 2002
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A self-indulgent but inventive John Cassavetes written and directed film... Full Review

Dan Jardine
January 1, 2000
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide

As much an indictment of modern filmmaking as the delusional nature of macho posturing, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a complex and fascinating document. Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
February 29, 2008
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

No review available.

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