— I put on the news this morning. I couldn’t sleep.
— Yeah?
— These two girls in Memphis, Tennessee.
— Memphis. Yeah.
— This is gonna kill you.
— Well, kill me.
— These two girls caught a gopher. They took the gopher home, and they cut the tail off.
— …
— Then they cooked the tail, and they ate it…
— For Christ’s sake.
— …and they died of botulism.
— Botulism? What do you know from botulism?
— I never laughed so hard in my life.

The film, seen today, generates considerable suspense, part of which comes from classic man-against-the-mob conventions: seeing how the noose of fate is tightened.
Part of it, however, comes from Cassavetes’ perverse reluctance to play the game of simple entertainment, offering more complex rewards instead. — Phillip Lopate