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High Stakes

1993, Movie, PG-13, 98 mins

High Stakes: Review

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This tatty made-for-TV thriller concludes that some amnesiacs are better off in their new lives as cocktail waitresses than in their old ones as adulterous career women. Nora Freemont (Veronica Hamel) wanders out of the Nevada Desert in an evening gown, unable to recall her previous existence. Nora accepts a job serving drinks at a casino guarded by house detective Denton (Dennis Farina), who suspects she might be faking her amnesia and hopes there's a reward for information leading to her reunion with a grateful family. Denton inevitably falls for the classy broad, and comes to accept that her memory loss is genuine. Then, just when Denton and Nora are thinking about making a commitment, a tourist recognizes Nora. Denton reluctantly investigates, locates Nora's husband, Jack (Stephen Collins), and reunites the couple. But as Nora's memory gradually returns, she realizes Jack has been whitewashing their far-from-idyllic marriage. Before she vanished, legal eagle Nora had been driven by Jack's temper and out-of-control drinking to dally with a co-worker. When the cops start pestering Nora about her lover's disappearance, Denton decides to lend a helping hand. Though the police discover the corpse of Nora's inamorata in a spot where the couple used to tryst, Denton doesn't believe she killed him. But Jack is in no mood to tolerate another boyfriend butting into his marriage. Will Nora's recovered memories prove her undoing, as Jack tries futilely to keep her in the dark? The effectiveness of this Perils of Pauline-style melodrama is undermined by the transparent nature of every plot twist, so it's up to the cast to keep things interesting. To their collective credit, they manage to give this recycled material about a model marriage gone sour surprising juice. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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High Stakes: How I Blew 14 Million
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High Stakes: Florida Seminole Gaming and Sovereignty
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