It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since Tarantino resurrected John Travolta ‘s career. Even harder to believe that he’s squandered the career boost the film gave him (along with an Oscar nomination) when he pops up in straight to streaming fodder like High Rollers a sequel to ‘Cash Out’. Disappointingly this sequel has missed the opportunity to use perhaps a more appropriate title of ‘Cash In’ with Travolta retuning as Mason Goddard a master thief having retired to an exotic locale with the love of his Amelia (Gina Gershon replacing Kristen Davis in ‘Cash Out’).
But his idyllic lifestyle is soon hurled into turmoil when a beach wedding is ruined with the arrival of a helicopter full of armed men who kidnap Amelia and whisk her away leaving Mason to lick his wounds with his gang that includes his little brother, Shawn (Lukas Haas), and his crew, Link (Natali Yura), Anton (Quavo), Hector (Noel G.), and Caras (Swen Temmel). He soon finds that Amelia is being held to ransom Mr. Flowers (Alex Hurt), who works for gangster Salazar (Danny Pardo), and the big man is looking to destroy his brother/rival, Zade (Demian Castro), the “Shrimp King” of Louisiana. Mason’s job is to infiltrate and distract Zade and his gang at his New Orlean’s casino whilst his own gang work their way through the casino’s computer security to access Zade’s safe and the contents within and in the process getting Amelia back. What could go wrong?
Well at its core this is a heist movie so most things will not go according to plan and Mason and his team have to quick think their way out of every worsening situation they find themselves in. Ocean’s 11 this is not and it desperately wants to be. The plot twists are obvious, there’s an over reliance on seen them a thousand times before drone shots , the script is daft with a plot holes galore. It’s only Gina Gershon who comes out of this intact and frankly deserves better.
There’s just something depressing that with a back catalogue that includes Carrie, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Blow Out, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Face Off (with Gershon) , Travolta’s career seems to have gone into a decades long freefall. Perhaps the only thing more depressing is that a third film in the franchise is on the way.
related feature : Terry Stone talks about his film ‘The Last Heist’ plus Trump masks & our audition for his next film
related feature : ‘Den of Thieves 2 : Pantera’ – PRIME VIDEO
We chatted to Gina Gershon about the film and John Travolta…..
Here’s the High Rollers trailer……
High Rollers is on digital 16th June 2025 (101 Films)
