Going for Broke

I watched this movie with my mother and loved it. I recently taped it because of the outstanding job that it did in addressing a serious issue. In this movie Laura Bancroft's life began to spiral dangerously out of control due to a severe addiction to gambling. When she started neglecting her husband and her kids to gamble she was just an addict. When she resorted to stealing to bankroll her habit she became a full blown junkie. It seemed that as the movie progressed her problem only got worse. In the end gambling not only destroyed her life but the lives of everyone around her. It just goes to show just how destructive any kind of addiction can be.

Lifetime television certainly continues its noble profession of making top-knotch tv films with Going For Broke. Before I watched it, I thought that it was going to be a typical "disease of the week" tv film, but no! This is filmaking at its very best. Its powerful, chilling and unforgettable. Real-life husband and wife Gerald McRaney and Delta Burke have the same chemistry as Tracy and Hepburn I believe. I just could not believe how foolish Delta's character was as she became addicted to gambling and just threw EVERYTHING!! away. Her loving husband, her wonderful, caring kids and her entire life for gambling. How could one person be so foolish. Her mother confronts her at the end and says "You threw it all away! I thought I raised you better! I do not know weather to hug you or slap you!" Watching her character is like watching a car going towards a brick wall at 100mph! I know this may sound very strange, but the fact this film does not have a happy end where everyone hugs and kisses and poops their pants, makes it better, it makes it more real to life and hard hitting.

Delta Burke plays a compulsive gambler, and Gerald McRaney her husband, as in real life, in "Going for Broke."

The film shows the step by step deterioration of a woman's life when she starts betting at the local casino. She borrows from the foundation for which she works, borrows from family, and eventually gambles the grocery money. Even when she wins, she loses, because she can't stop.

The story holds one's interest and one can't help but feel sorry and frustrated for the character as she digs herself in deeper and deeper, neglecting her children, husband, and job. The story is extra sad because, of course, this happens to people every day due to one addiction or another.

Burke, McRaney, and the rest of the cast do an impressive job.

These lifetime movies can suck me in if I'm in the right frame of mind. Honestly, I only saw the last half of this movie, but I didn't need to see the beginning by any means.

Once she's into her 'habit' she gets glassy eyed and her hair goes awry. The kids are neglected, all she can afford for them is oatmeal. "Really, Mom. Its OK, we LIKE oatmeal". This one's pretty putrid. The best scene is when she turns to a fellow gambler in a crummy cocktail lounge for help. "Oh Honey, we're not that kind of friends. I saw this coming, but who am I to say anything?"

Delta Burke should really steer clear of pathos. She just chews the scenery here. I much prefer Delta's brassy comic turn in recent ep's of Boston Legal!.

Splendid acting by all of the characters. Outstanding illustration of the consequences of compulsive gambling. Gambling must be viewed as entertainment, not as a means to earn money and to "win back what you have lost." It is easy to see how you can get seduced into the artificial atmosphere of the casino, and even more so how you can lose track of time at the slot machines, therefore neglecting your obligations, like how Laura put her children's lives in danger several times. This movie serves as a warning to how anyone can wake up one morning and discover that everything is lost due to gambling addiction. If just one person's life is turned around as a result of this excellent movie, if just one person decides to receive help, it is worth it.