Banco à Las Vegas

"Fake Out" or as a DVD release, "Nevada Heat", really is a frustrating film. First, Pia Zadora is her usual cute as a button, perky self, and Telly Savalas is his usual sarcastic self. These two play off each other throughout the movie, but the film really goes nowhere. Sure there is a steamy nude shower scene, and Pia takes a bubble bath, but the simplistic story of a mobster's girlfriend's allegiance or lack thereof comes across more like a series of skits showcasing the Riviera Hotel. One interminable scene at a blackjack table plays like an instructional gambling primer. Attempts at humor mostly fall flat, and the cartoon-like car chases in and around the hotel only further weaken an already weak film. - MERK

Another inept and cheaply-made US crime thriller. This one stars the diminutive Pia Zadora, caught up in a plot where she's wrongly sent to prison and at the mercy of a cruel ex-boyfriend. A lot of it is padded out with extremely dull romance, and the attempts at comedy fall flat time and time again. Watch out for Telly Savalas in support.

This well made film, is a bit of a weird one. A tight comedy drama, a film which stands alone, if too as an obscure one, to which I admire it more. None too many people, would know about Fake Out, but should, this humble actioner. Pia Zadora, who like Marilyn Chambers, shows such a fakeness to her acting, does still have a great sexual presence. Better in Butterfly, where she really oozed eroticism heavily, for which she must be commended, here she puts on the same act. Playing a nightclub singer, she refuses to testify against a mobster boyfriend, so she's sent to prison, where we have a similar Chained Heat, shower scene going on. And you should see her upscale prison cell. She even runs an aerobics class in the prison. Finally cracking, she agrees to testify (ulterior motives here, of course) and is put under police protection, by lollipop icon Savalas, and hunky nice guy, cop, Arnez junior, and it's a likeable performance and character, someone you really wanna root for. But keeping Zadora, under lock and broken key, becomes a full time job, and you guessed, a romance blooms. I liked the other characters too. 'F Troop' Storch is a hoot, as a shady showbiz agent, who has his new sexy protege. There are some surprises in Fake Out, but it's just a real fun entertainer, definitely a live one, and we are in Vegas, don't forget. It also has one of the worst sniper hitmen, ever seen on film.

If you are expecting to Gone with the Wind, you will be disappointed. If you are expecting a watch a Pia Zadora movie, you will be pleasantly surprised. I say this because outside of watching Zadora shake, rattle and roll across the screen, Fake-Out offers a fun ride in and around 80's Las Vegas. Among witnessing Zadora in the flesh, we get to see the Lake/Great Telly Savalas. Every time he is on screen, it is worth the price of admission. The cast also includes multiple guest appearances along with strong supporting leads with Desi Arnaz Jr., Larry Storch and Tim Rossovich at their very best. Worth the watch and worth watching to the very end.

Pia Zadora has done some strange things in movies...most of them bizarre, like her role in Butterfly, with the incestuous theme.

This film, though, is way bizarre. It's soft-core porn, really. The nudity and the strange lesbian kiss from actress Connie Hair, now a political PR flack for several conservative organizations, make it a film most will not enjoy. I doubt that Ms. Hair would enjoy references to this film these days.

I don't like the "women in prison" genre anyhow, but this one is pretty egregious.

That said, Pia Zadora is always as cute as a bunny, and I wouldn't miss any of her films, no matter what. Love ya, Pia!