Music of Chance begins simply enough: a driver picks up a bleeding drifter who’s staggering along the side of the highway. The two men head into town, check into a hotel, and clean up. Strangers before this encounter, they share their respective stories of how they came to that particular road. The driver, Jim Nashe (Mandy Patinkin) is a newly-retired firefighter, who after a separating from his wife and receiving a windfall from an insurance settlement decided to hit the road and drive around the country until his funds ran out. Jack Pozzi (James Spader), the now-bandaged drifter, is a slick east coast cardsharp; a skilled poker player who had been dealt a bad hand in his last game to the tune of winnings-stolen-by-goons-beaten-to-a-pulp-left-by-the-side-of-the-highway.

5/5/21: A full version of this essay will be appearing in an upcoming issue of NOIR CITY. Donate to the Film Noir Foundation to subscribe.