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In Blood & Wine , Alex Gates(Jack Nicholson) seems to have everything. He owns a first-class wine shop in Miami, drives a new BMW convertible and sleeps with his sexy Latin mistress. Alex is a sleazy guy, the kind of person who is always looking for the easy way out. He does everything possible to ignore his wife, while using the small fortune left after her first husband's death to finance his expensive habits.

When Alex's funds begin to run dry, he panics. He turns to his safe-cracking poker buddy Victor Spansky (Michael Caine) for help. Together they devise a plan to steal a million-dollar diamond necklace from one of Alex's richer clients.

Caine is so convincing as a down-and-out crook dying of tuberculosis that you are sure he will not live long enough to make another movie. Victor knows he is dying and hopes his last heist will allow him to spend the rest of his days living in comfort.

Stealing the necklace is no problem for the duo. Alex's lies and Victor's safe-cracking skills simplify the deed. It is not until they have the jewelry that events get complicated.

Alex's wife realizes that he is about to abandon her just as he finishes packing. In a fit of anger, she beats him nearly to death, grabs his suitcase (unaware that the necklace is inside) and flees with her son Jason (Stephen Dorff) to a friend's houseboat. While in hiding, Jason discovers the diamond necklace in his mother's suitcase. In the meantime, Alex and Victor are busy trying to track down the necklace. By the end of the movie, Alex has transformed from someone once perceived simply as a selfish jerk into a heartless killer willing to sacrifice anything, including his family, to get the necklace back.

The movie's success rests almost entirely on the cast. The character of Alex is different than many of Nicholson's other roles because it does not require the type of over-the-top performance that he gives in Batman and A Few Good Men . Nicholson's Alex is a passionate man. Playing the part of Alex's wife Suzanne, Judy Davis ( Absolute Power ) captures the helplessness of being locked into a loveless marriage. As Gabriella, Jennifer Lopez (the title character in the upcoming Selena ) plays a sultry illegal immigrant who finds herself tempted by the value of the stolen necklace and attracted to both Alex and Jason.

Early in the movie, it is difficult to see who the hero is. Alex is clearly the main character, but he does not have any of the admirable characteristics of his stepson, Jason.

The story is convincing because it is not glamorized; the action is spontaneous. The film's main drawback is that it insists on a warped idea of poetic justice.

All of the characters in Blood & Wine face a moment when they must choose whether to keep the necklace for themselves or to return it to its proper owner.

The movie insists that greed be avenged through humiliation and violence. Alex and Victor have already given up everything for the necklace, and their failure should be punishment enough. Unfortunately for Blood & Wine , movie-goers will leave the theater thinking about what happens to Alex rather than the crazy twists the story takes before reaching its climax.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 21, 1997 issue.