TRICKS

Jackie Simpson (Mimi Rogers), a middle-aged ex-Las Vegas showgirl whose assets have always been her beauty and sensuous appeal, participates in somewhat risky pursuits in order to support herself and her seven-year-old diabetic son, Joseph (David Kaye). Jackie earns meagre wages at a Lake Tahoe hotel gift shop, while ambitiously taking computer classes in the hopes of getting a better job. She shares her life and home with Sarah (Tyne Daly), an alcoholic and ageing seamstress who once costumed the glittering girls of the Vegas chorus line.

Jackie does whatever is necessary to earn a living and spend quality time with Joseph. The dual lifestyle takes its toll on her during the holidays as she works at the gift shop, decorates a scraggly Christmas tree with Joseph before tucking him into bed, and then signalled by her beeper, goes to a fancy hotel where bellman, Tommy, gives her an assignment. In a lavish suite, the scene becomes kinky and violent when her client, whose name she knows only as Henry (Kevin McNulty), breaks her nose. Tommy pays her for the assignment, but severs relations and the security guard bans her from the hotel. Because of her bruised and swollen face, Jackie loses her job. News travels fast and she is blacklisted throughout the tourist strip.

Jackie is befriended by Adam (Callum Rennie), a handsome young cab driver who turns out to be in her computer class and he reveals to her that he has left his wife pregnant with an unintended baby. He begins to spend time with Jackie and gives Joseph a Mexican geode for Christmas. Adam splits the ordinary looking rock with a hammer to reveal beautiful purple quartz crystals inside.

Sarah calls on her friend, Big Sam (Ray Walston), to arrange things when Jackie decides she wants retribution, but Big Sam advises against action when he finds out it involves Rinaldi, one of the most powerful men in Lake Tahoe. Jackie takes matters into her own hands when she arms herself with a gun and decides to crash Rinaldi’s famous New Year’s Eve party where she discovers her attacker, Henry, is actually Rinaldi’s son. She makes it known that it’s an apology she wants, not money. Although infuriated by Henry’s attitude, Jackie does not use the gun and instead hits him, breaking his nose.

With the score settled, it’s time for everyone to move on: Sarah moves in with Big Sam; Adam heads back to his wife to face his responsibilities; and Jackie packs a U-Haul for California to make a better life for herself and her son. Joseph re-opens the geode to see the beauty inside the rough stone and looks ahead to a brighter future.