“The Vortex” is an unusual little film, whose mysteries begin with the nebulous title, which could be about horror, flooding or storms. Here, it likely refers to the swirling downward spiral of gambling debt, which is where a comedian who works the big room at the MGM Grand in 1980 seems to find himself.
After one of his sets in the Ziegfeld Room, he’s visited by an unending parade of people who tell him they heard his set was funny, but also that he needs very badly to pay up.
He hears all this as he sits at a video slot machine where he hopes to improve his finances, quarter by quarter. So much of the film takes place in the newly-minted no smoking room (at a time when most would prefer smoke in their casinos), “The Vortex” could almost be a play.
That the action takes place in the hours before Las Vegas’ deadliest fire would destroy the MGM Grand, killing 87 and injuring more than 700, gives the story an air of end-of-the-world impending doom. Or alternately, the idea could be what does it matter when soon the world will go up in flames and its own accelerating vortex of heat and destruction?
That any of this has a chance of working is due to the work of Billy Gardell, the beloved comedian who led sitcoms like “Mike & Molly” and “Bob Hearts Abishola.” In the final seasons of the latter, he lost a ton of weight — about 170 pounds — through bariatric surgery and lifestyle changes, which seemed so sudden on TV it was almost alarming.
It’s that Gardell who here plays the lead, his head fairly swimming in his suit collar. But with his mustache, slicked back hair and single earring, the drawn look seems to suit Pete Finnegan, the broken down comic who fills showrooms (but with jokes that don’t really seem that funny).
He’s well liked, though, even by the people who are plotting on ways to break his arms. (“Nothing personal,” one says.). The waitress is an ally and possible romantic interest, the wife of a casino musician wants to have an affair, but a cleaning woman of Paiute descent prays for him and may be responsible for what eventually occurs.
Gardell does well in what’s billed as his first dramatic role, aided by a cast that includes another comic in a dramatic turn, Christopher Titus, playing a high-end shoemaker who somehow became a go-between for the mob. Jaina Lee Ortiz of “Station 19” plays the waitress; Jamie McShane, who was recently the menacing old biker on HBO’s “The Task” is seen briefly as the pit boss.
Director Richard Zelniker, who co-wrote the film with Steven Barr, keeps the hand-held camera moving in and around the slots room to keep things visually lively (cinematography by Justin Richards). It works well along the jazzy musical score by Asdru Sierra.
“The Vortex” tends to draw you in with its character study. And it’s nice to have a film set in Vegas that doesn’t involve a big heist or some other loud mayhem (instead, the city’s biggest fire is just around the corner).
“The Vortex” is streaming on Apple TV.