Synopsis

On Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, lawyer Charlie Arglist helps steal $2 million from the local mob, intending to leave town with his partner, Vic. As a snowstorm closes in, Charlie tries to avoid suspicious associates, dangerous criminals, and his own unraveling schemes. The night's uneasy mixture of greed, betrayal, and holiday cheer turns the planned getaway into a darkly comic fight for survival.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts Scott Phillips' 2000 crime novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Richard Russo and Robert Benton.

• Production took place primarily in the Chicago suburbs, standing in for Wichita. Filming ran from April 5 through June 12, 2004.

• Harold Ramis described the project as a dark, existentially minded film noir with comic elements, a marked change of tone from his broader studio comedies.

• Severe weather during production nearly forced the crew to lose a shooting day, which would have broken Ramis' long-standing record of completing his films without one.

• Charlie Arglist's surname is a German term associated with guile or deceitfulness, an unusually direct clue to his character.

• The line "As falls Wichita so falls Wichita Falls" comes from the title of a 1981 album by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.

• "The Sweet Cage," the strip club's name, was borrowed from a restaurant that Ramis and his family visited during his childhood. Its flatware was used for the upscale restaurant scenes.