Cinema: Tempting Trap

"Gambler's Paradise," the city is labeled. But anyone who has visited Las Vegas knows that the slogan is a contradiction in terms. In the neon wilderness, blue-haired ladies pull on the one-armed bandits as if they were lifelines; at the card and crap tables, aggressive customers line up like lambs for the fleecing. Like a Vegas concession, The Only Game in Town is a tempting trap. The odds look attractive: Elizabeth Taylor back at her fighting weight, Warren Beatty in his first film since Bonnie and Clyde, both directed by George Stevens (Shane, Giant). But the result is as empty as...