Playing to Win: A Moment of Truth Movie (1998 TV Movie) User Reviews

At least "Fever Pitch" was good for laughs

[khaosjr · 6/10 · 15 October 2004]

Anybody who thinks 'Fever Pitch' (1985, with Ryan O'Neal) was a lousy movie should try sitting through THIS one. 'FP' may not be Oscar-worthy, but it's great fun if you're in the right mood; It's tricky to be in the right mood for 'PTW,' since it changes moods so quickly...Meet teenage Dana, who's introduced by her compulsive and self-destructive new boyfriend Marshal (David Lascher) to the wonderful world of gambling. This costs her not only thousands of dollars but also her job-not to mention the trust of her family and friends-as she spirals down toward the Three D's: Despair, Disaster and Desperation.

Just as Lisa Dean Ryan ('Dana') has the opportunity to make all of this seem worthwhile by evolving into another Marshal, as it were…Guess what happens? She takes the proverbial Easy Way Out!

FIRST: she jilts Marshal…after he's already talked her into throwing the soccer finals at her high school, AND stealing $2,000 from her mother, AND pitching in with a clumsy attempt to rob his own father's country club!

SECOND: she DOES patch things up with just about everyone save her ex-boss, which seems Mucho Fake-o after a few confrontation scenes that made me wince. ('Thanks for being my mom,' she says with a smile, after she stole and pawned this woman's college-graduation ring.)

THIRD: in the film's closing scene, she enters Gamblers Anonymous…the director of which gives one of those unconvincing everything-will-be-fine-just-take-our-word-for-it speeches. It makes you unsure whether the writers got lazy, or whether they were simply rushed by the producers and/or director (possibly a bit of both). Even worse, this serves to perpetuate a rather dangerous myth: that the ONLY people who should go to 'Gamblers Anonymous' are those who always LOSE.

Lascher does well at playing 'Marshal' as temptation/gambling addiction incarnate…too well, if anything. If you don't believe me, just look at how quickly and easily he picks up a new girlfriend, after Ryan finally wises up and dumps him.

Are these people real?

[paultrefzger-1 · 1/10 · 21 January 2006]

The acting was OK. This problem of the week was "addictive gambling". My problem today was watching this TV-movie. I loved Shelley Fabares in, I think it was "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" or one of its spin-offs. She plays the concerned mother of the teenage girl (played by Lisa Dean Ryan) that follows every suggestion her new boyfriend (played by David Lascher) gives her, to get money, short of armed robbery.

In the very beginning when he's talking to her about how "you never lose" at gambling, a thug (well played by Gordon Currie)comes up to boyfriend and tells him, very audibly to our heroine, that if he doesn't repay him the $200 he owes him he'll do something akin to breaking his kneecaps. "Dana" cheerfully goes gambling with her new boyfriend. She loses, learns how to steal, gambles some more with prince charming, wins a little, loses much hore, steals some more, pawns her mother's wedding ring, etc.

If that seems unbelievable, you should hear her mom (Fabares) when she finds out that her jewelry and the girl's stereo, etc. are all missing,(also Dana's been fired from her job and been arrested) and it's because she's lied, cheated and stolen so she could gamble. Mom says to the boyfriend's dad, after "the kids" are let off because of his "connections" with the judge, "I was relieved it was gambling." and then, "You mean gambling is addictive?" Have she and her family been living in a bubble?

The other thing that bothered me was that neither women......the daughter nor the mother was strong enough, nor capable enough to figure out the obvious. Daughter did everything "new boyfriend" suggested without question, then eventually, after the "thug" threatened her and her family, she told her mom the truth about how she'd been doing about anything to get money and what did mom do when daughter asked her advice? She said "I don't know, but I'll find out from .....(HER new acquaintance)", the "jerk boyfriend's" father, an alcoholic.

The answer ultimately, of course, was to join gambler's anonymous. Nothing was said about the outcome of the thug's threats. But, more important, the flick ignored both women's inability to say "no" and to make intelligent decisions on their own. You'd think they had never watched a TV-movie.

Dana, why'd you do it?

[covergirl10452 · 10/10 · 31 October 2008]

After seeing this movie, I'm appalled with Dana. She never committed sin before in her entire life, until she met Marshall which proved to be nothing but trouble ever since he introduced her to gambling. Her mother even noticed something was up, especially when she found out all her jewelry was missing. Unbelievable. There use to be a time when she could be trusted and the sad part about it is she knew right from wrong. She just let Satan get to her big time. And guess what? As far as college, she doesn't have to worry about it anymore because after gambling her college fund, slacking on homework, and getting fired because she was caught stealing, there was no way that any college would except her after that. Besides, Marshall's the cause of all this. I felt really bad when Dana's mom said "You have become a liar and a thief." But, I pretty much agreed with her. Her mother couldn't trust her anymore. Here's the thing. We all know lying and keeping things covert is not a good thing. And if you resume doing that, people stop believing you. She should have told her mother what was going on instead of having her go around in circles. So absurd. That's nothing but the devil, which by the way had a good laugh after she committed sin in her life. I knew she was going to get caught in the middle. Parents always find out. After seeing something like that, people should ask this question. "Dana, why'd you do it?" To be honest with you, I couldn't live with myself for a second if I did something like that, letting myself down, letting Satan laugh in your face after doing something wrong and what's worse is that she could've said no and walked away, but didn't. She let it happen. It's like when she's in a maze, she would always follow the spiritual man which is God, but when Marshall came along, he hoodwinked her into following the criminal man which is the Devil. Dana Erikson, you are lucky that you are not in prison and you are definitely lucky that you still have a place to stay. If that was my mother that found out that you cleaned out her bank account by forging that check, she'd tear your behind up and kick you out. What's wrong with you? You know your mother taught you better than that. You better get it together right now. As far as you Marshall, leave Dana alone. She doesn't want to have anything to do with you after what you put her through. You need to go. You have put her and her family through enough. The only thing I can say to Dana is "Let God Forgive You."