Double crosses abound and crime doesn’t pay in this cheap, gritty, loosely scripted digital-video production. Having just finished an eight-year stretch in prison, small-time crook Ray Burns (Mick Rossi) is hired by crime boss Jack Rawlings (Roy Dotrice) to take out a rival named Riley (Patrick Bergin), who masterminded the botched job that got Ray pinched. Played’s biggest asset is a supporting cast studded with big-name, easily recognizable stars, including Val Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Anthony LaPaglia, Joanne Whalley, Patsy Kensit, Vinnie Jones and the late Bruno Kirby.

Shelf Talk: After premiering at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Played went on to take the Best Film award at the Hollywood MiniDV Festival and Best Screenwriting award at the Malibu Film Festival. It can be positioned alongside such similarly hard-boiled gangster films as Reservoir Dogs and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. And the all-star supporting cast (most of whom appeared as a favor to the reportedly well-connected Rossi) will supply high-wattage marquee value.