Synopsis

Miami wine merchant Alex Gates is drowning in debt and estranged from his wife and stepson. When he learns that a wealthy client owns an exceptionally valuable diamond necklace, Alex recruits an experienced safecracker and plans a carefully staged theft. But personal betrayals, romantic entanglements, and the divided loyalties within his own family threaten to destroy the scheme.

Factoids & Trivia

• Bob Rafelson regarded the film as the final installment of an unofficial trilogy made with Jack Nicholson, following Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972). The films share an interest in damaged men and dysfunctional family relationships.

• The production was filmed in Miami, South Florida, and the Florida Keys. Locations included Little Havana, Miami Beach's Millionaire's Row, the Miami River, Coral Gables, and the Caribbean Club in Key Largo.

• Producer Jeremy Thomas was drawn to the project partly because he viewed Rafelson as an American filmmaker with distinctly European sensibilities.

• Michael Caine later recalled that he had considered himself retired before Nicholson told him about the film. The role persuaded Caine to return to feature filmmaking, beginning another highly successful period in his career.

• The film premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in September 1996 before its United States theatrical release on February 21, 1997.

• Caine won the festival's Best Actor award at San Sebastian for his performance.

• Made on a reported $26 million budget, the film earned approximately $1.1 million theatrically in the United States.