Eric Roberts made his film debut as the grandson of an Old World gypsy king who is chosen over his father to lead the remnants of the clan into the modern age. Director Frank Pierson, who also adapted Peter Maas' book, goes for a theatrically overwrought style here that plays like an opera minus the singing; we get the anger, the torment, the gesticulating and all the fiery emotions, but what the film lacks (and what Pierson could really use) is some sensitivity. The talented, eclectic all-star cast and the unusual milieu certainly hold interest, but this character portrait is pitched too high to hit any of its targets. *1/2 from ****
Review of King of the Gypsies
