Just the Ticket Reviews

Ever wonder what it's like to be a ticket scalper in the world's most event-packed city? You might just learn a trick or two from this shaggy dog story about poor, schlumpy Gary (Andy Garcia) -- once the scalper to see, now down on his luck because long-time girlfriend Linda (Andie MacDowell) sent him packing to a flea bag hotel -- and slick, well-organized front man Casino (André Blake), who's muscling in on his territory. Linda has given up on Gary, exhausted by a long list of failed schemes and the generally unstable lifestyle; she's decided to go to Paris and become a chef. Only Gary's partner in scalping, the sad, broken Benny (Richard Bradford), sticks with him through the worst: Even his fellow sidewalk hawkers flee when they see he's on the outs. Then Gary sees the light: A papal mass is going to be held in Yankee Stadium. If he can score enough tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime event, he'll be able to open a restaurant for Linda with the profits. Various obstacles and not-so-subtle plot twists later, the perennial loser has redeemed himself, which this movie seems to equate with getting a Social Security number. How becoming a number makes you a real person is too big a question to get into here: Suffice it to say that Richard Wenk's film, while clearly heartfelt, wears its romantic comedy badge with some discomfort, as if there's another, darker movie struggling to chew its way out. Garcia is a gifted actor and when Gary becomes vicious and angry you believe it; Garcia looks and acts as though he was born on the dirty midtown streets he prowls, and his intense energy almost makes this stillborn story work.