Music of Chance, The

"The Music of Chance" is a fascinating, offbeat independent film much of the way, though it begins to unravel in its final third and has a most unsatisfying ending.

The film begins as a wanderer (Mandy Patinkin) who has been driving around the country for more than a year picks up a beaten and battered professional poker player (James Spader) when he collapses on the roadside.

Patinkin is an everyman who was divorced and then hit the road to find himself, living off an inheritance. Now he's on his way to see his young daughter . . . and running out of money.

Spader is a cynical, street-smart hustler who was beat up after an unfortunate poker game, and he's on his way to another high-stakes game, hoping to clean out a pair of wealthy eccentrics (Charles Durning, Joel Grey) who won the lottery.

But Spader is broke and doesn't have the necessary stake to get into the game. So, Patinkin decides to chance his last $10,000 by letting Spader use it, in exchange for a percentage of the profits.

What happens next - the game, its results and how a debt is paid off - is metaphorical and somewhat metaphysical, with symbolism represented in the building of a stone wall over a three-month period.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, this is a movie without an ending and it opts for an ironic conclusion that would fit more easily with a "Twilight Zone" episode than it does this film.

Still, there are some terrific performances here, with Spader very different than you've ever seen him before. M. Emmett Walsh also delivers as a hapless caretaker, and Christopher Penn plays his dullard son.

"The Music of Chance" is rated R, primarily for language. There is also some violence and implied sex.