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Filmmaker Alex Cox claims that the producers of The Winner re-edited the film and replaced the score without his permission or input, and perhaps this partially accounts for the film's slapped together feel. Then again, Death and the Compass, the film Cox worked on immediately after The Winner, was edited under the director's auspices, and is similarly discombobulated. The film incorporates a number of cleverly subversive ideas, and almost works as a parody of the comically violent hipster milieu of Quentin Tarantino, with a smidgen of cheap David Lynch-surrealism thrown in. Cox's cameo as a showgirl choreographer with a fake French accent clues us in that he's having us on. The characters are mostly annoying, particularly a grating small-time hood played by Frank Whaley, who seems to be doing a bad Joe Pesci impression. The entire talented cast plays monotonously, hitting the same notes again and again. The plot makes a show of being complex, with a slew of weird characters surrounding the bland cipher of Philip (Vincent D'Onofrio), and it builds to a crescendo of violence, but it doesn't make much sense or encourage audience involvement. The film seems intentionally cheesy, right up until its punch line. The last five minutes of the film are incredible, and the apocalyptic ending is a great touch, bringing some much needed gravity to the proceedings. But it doesn't feel earned, and it's not enough to save the film from being an mildly interesting failure.