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\n Why is Michael Caine still haunted by a 90s thriller few people saw and fewer can even find today? He swears audiences judged it too soon, and says that in the age of antiheroes the verdict would be very different. <\/p>\n
Michael Caine keeps circling back to a 1996 thriller that audiences rejected, despite a career stacked with Nolan hits. \u201cBlood & Wine,\u201d a sleek heist tale from Bob Rafelson with Jack Nicholson and Caine, crashed at the box office, taking just $1.1 million on a $26 million budget. He still insists it was better than its reputation, a sentiment Roger Ebert echoed, even as critics blamed the absence of anyone to root for. In a culture that now celebrates the anti-hero, it might land differently today, if only you could stream it instead of hunting down a Concorde DVD.<\/p>\n
Michael Caine has long stood as a benchmark for screen charisma, from scene-stealing turns in Christopher Nolan\u2019s hits like The Dark Knight Rises and The Prestige to decades of versatile work. You likely have a favorite Caine performance. Yet the actor still carries a quiet box-office regret<\/strong>: Bob Rafelson\u2019s 1996 crime drama Blood & Wine, a film he believes deserved better.<\/p>\n Directed by Bob Rafelson, Blood & Wine set out to be a gritty Miami heist tale. Jack Nicholson plays a desperate wine merchant plotting to steal a rare necklace, partnering with Caine\u2019s Victor Spansky, a seasoned jewel thief. The setup promised old-school noir heat, clashing loyalties and sweat-soaked tension.<\/p>\n Still, the movie stumbled. It earned about $1.1 million against a reported $26 million budget, a result as bruising as the caper\u2019s unraveling on screen. Caine has said the film was no misfire in craft, only in connection, a case of a strong story that failed to meet its moment.<\/p>\nA heist story with promise but no audience<\/h2>\n
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