The first scene where Patinkin picks up Spader draws you right into, what is really, the middle of the story-for Jim (Patinkin, anyway). He is a drifter, drifting on his fathers money when he comes across Jack Pozzi, Spader, and decides to offer him a proposition. He will front him the 10,000 he needs to play cards if he keeps half of the winnings. Anyway, they play the poker game and Jack loses. Now they owe Flower and Stone-Laurel and Hardy, the strange couple they played against- $10,000, which they borrowed from them during the game. Flower and Stone offer them a propostiton of their own. Jack and Jim will build them a wall, a wailing wall, to pay off the debt. The two men accept. And this is where the action really starts. A fine story of manipulation and greed with top notch performances from all actors , cool controlled direction and an ending similar to that of Five Easy Pieces in it's ambiguity. Very satisfying. Films you may like to watch if you liked this one, would be pretty much all the American Independence movies especially Eye of God and Niagra, Niagra