''Lookin’ to Get Out'' is a 1982 American comedy film, directed by

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably '' The Ru ...

and written by Al Schwartz and

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, he ...

, who also stars. The film also stars

Ann-Margret Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret. She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...

and Burt Young. Voight's daughter,

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

, then seven years old, makes her acting debut.

Plot

Alex Kovac, playing poker in New York City, drops $10,000 to gamblers Joey and Harry that he can not pay back. Alex persuades pal Jerry Feldman to hop on a plane to Las Vegas with him and try to win $10,000 to pay off the debt. Finding out that a similarly named Jerry Feldman is a regular there, Jerry is comped $10,000 by the casino, no questions asked. A room and other perks go along with the comp. A waiter named Smitty, an old acquaintance of Alex's, is an expert card-counter, so he is staked to a high-limit blackjack game by the guys. Patti Warner, a former girlfriend of Alex's, is now the mistress of the casino's boss. Their mutual attraction returns, but trouble follows after a $500,000 victory at the tables, not only from the casino but from Joey and Harry, who have come to Vegas looking to get their money or get even.

Cast

as Alex Kovac *

as Patti Warner * Burt Young as Jerry *

Bert Remsen Herbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen (February 25, 1925 – April 22, 1999) was an American actor and casting director. He appeared in numerous films and television series. Biography Remsen was born in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island, the son of ...

as Smitty *

Siegfried and Roy Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

as the Magicians * Samantha Harper as Lilian, Jerry's ex-wife Voight's seven-year old daughter,

(credited as Angelina Jolie Voight) made her acting debut by briefly appearing as Voight's character's daughter (Tosh Kovac) near the end of the movie.

Production

The film was Voight's screenwriting debut. After initial delays, the film started principal photography in May 1980. Production was interrupted for five months due to an actors' strike. Director Ashby had notorious bouts with the studio and recut the film for himself before it was taken from his hands and recut by the studio. Years later, while speaking at the University of Southern California, Jon Voight discovered that the version of the film which had been shown to the students was not the theatrical version but instead Ashby's original cut (which was considered lost). This was brought to the attention of

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

who released the Ashby Director's Cut on DVD on June 30, 2009. Filming took place in Las Vegas, including the MGM Grand Las Vegas and ''Variety'' noted in their review the "shameless plugging for the MGM leisure palace and its entertainment shows (particularly Siegfried & Roy's magic acts)."

Release

The film was initially due to be released by United Artists but

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...

's deal with UA expired before the film was released and Paramount Pictures acquired the film as part of a package to distribute Lorimar product. The film received poor reviews. ''Variety'' called it "an ill-conceived vehicle for actor (and cowriter) Jon Voight to showcase his character comedy talents in a loose, semi improvised environment." They noted that "Voight and Young are an entertaining team, but presented in an untenable vehicle". The film was released on October 8, 1982 in 850 theaters and due to its poor performance, Lorimar made a $6.2 million write-off.

References

External links