Dave checks out a made-for-cable neo-noir with a cast to die for and more twists than a Slinky factory.

“Rude Awakening (1989) put a dent in my career,” sighed an apologetic Eric Roberts to the Chicago Tribune on the set of LOVE, CHEAT & STEAL. “I wasn’t proud of anything I did after that until Final Analysis (1992). Now I’m finally back to being able to do good roles no matter what they pay.”

“Everyone must forgive me for that period.” [1]

There’s a degree of irony to Roberts suggesting that Larry Cohen’s The Ambulance (1990) is somehow an inferior piece of work. Fast forward thirty-odd years and the actor’s subsequent nine-hundred title resume – clogged up with the likes of The Arkansas Pigman Massacre (2025), Space Sharks (2024), and, of course, David DeCoteau’s feline fluff piece, A Talking Cat!?! (2013) – really makes one think that Best of the Best (1989) (“It embarrassed everyone who was in it”) was actually a creative high for the Biloxi-born star. In any case, the reason behind Roberts’ three and a half year “career nadir” was down to a dodgy accountant and the need to clear a tax bill. Now free from the shackles of having to work for The Man, he found himself able to pick and choose his next job, like this fun but flawed Showtime original.

Roberts plays Reno Adams: a small-time crook who got stitched up on a job by his former girlfriend, Lauren (Mädchen Amick). Sent down for seven years, a bid for freedom comes hand in hand with a lust for revenge made more enticing in the knowledge that Lauren’s new Beau is Paul Harrington (John Lithgow), the manager of the bank in the small Floridia town where they both now live.

Made during the peak of cable TV’s obsession with everything noir, first (and last) time writer/director William Curran throws the entire genre playbook at Love, Cheat & Steal. A monochrome opening, narration from Roberts, a sultry score, the flicker of a cigarette lighter, and a blue collar/white collar tug of war over a femme fatale. Arguably, it’s too much; and it’s underlined by the film’s proto-Wild Things (1998) ending, when the clumsy delivery of a fourth plot twist in as many minutes almost caused me to rue everything that had gone before it.

Irritation aside, it’s hard to completely dislike any picture that boasts a front three of Roberts, Amick and Lithgow. Factor in an experienced supporting cast featuring Donald Moffat (The Thing (1982)), Dan O’Herlihy (Robocop (1987)), and Bill McKinney (First Blood (1982)) – as well as blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em appearances from Rick Dean, Eddie Bunker, and Danny Trejo (getting his ass handed to him by Roberts!) – and you’ve got ninety minutes spent in good company.

Premiering on Showtime in early December ’93, Love, Cheat & Steal drew a handful of particularly savage reviews. David Bianculli from the Daily News labelled it “a listless and meaningless affair” [2], and ahead of its video release the following June, Vlado Forgac in The Morning Star described it as “a B-movie where the ‘B’ is for bad.” [3] Thankfully, the always reasonable Mike Mayo in The Roanoke Times had a typically fair assessment: “Production values are first rate, but there may be one twist too many in the final reel. But don’t worry about that. For what it is, Love, Cheat & Steal is lots of fun.” [4]

Regarding twists, the film’s British distributor, ITC, were that confident in their new acquisition that they put it on the big screen at the MGM in Picadilly Circus during the first week of January 1995. Unfortunately, its box office – and reception for that matter – did little to prompt a nationwide tour, and Love, Cheat & Steal eventually hit U.K. video shops that October courtesy of Polygram.

USA ● 1993 ● Thriller, TVM ● 91mins

John Lithgow, Eric Roberts, Madchen Amick ● Wri./Dir. William Curran

[1] Heavy Mettle: Busy ‘Bad Guy’ Eric Roberts Discovers it Pays to be the Villain by Bart Mills, Chicago Tribune, 30th November 1993.
[2] There Oughta be a Law Against Love, Cheat & Steal by David Bianculli, Daily News, 3rd December 1993.
[3] Good Actors, Bad movie: Video Beat by Vlad Forgac, The Morning Star, 24th June 1994.
[4] On Video by Michael Mayo, The Roanoke Times, 17th September 1994.