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4.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Big Chance remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for grainy, low-budget relics from the early talkie era. If you need tight pacing or high-end production values, you are going to hate this thing within the first ten minutes. But if you like movies that feel like they were held together with tape and pure ambition, stay a while.
There is this moment near the start where the dialogue feels like it’s being shouted from the other side of the room. It’s charming, in a weird way. It reminds me of the chaotic energy you see in Five Star Final, where everything feels just a little bit too loud.
They aren't exactly modern, are they? The choreography looks like two people trying to remember the steps to a dance they only learned five minutes ago. I couldn't help but laugh when the main guy throws a punch that clearly misses the chin by a country mile. And the editor just left it in.
You can tell the director was trying to capture that same grit found in The Battle of the Sexes, but the budget clearly had other plans. Every time the camera cuts to the crowd, you see the same three people moving in weird, loop-de-loop patterns. It’s hypnotic, really.
There is a scene where a gangster is trying to look intimidating while leaning against a wall that looks like it’s made of wet cardboard. He’s doing his best, bless his heart. It’s not quite the menace you get in The Stranger, but it’s got a specific kind of 1930s desperation that sticks to your ribs.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely a movie, if we’re being honest. But there’s a flicker of life here that you don't get in those shiny, soulless modern things. It feels human, flaws and all. 🥊