If you've never seen this little gem in the theaters (as I did), then get it on video/DVD right away. Although I only saw it 1/2 times when it first came out, the story-line was riveting. Ryan O'Neal stars as a newspaper reporter who is writing a series of true stories about compulsive gambling and the harmful effects of it, with the compulsive gambler's name listed as only "Mr. X." It is only near the end of the film that he reveals to his editor that HE is the Mr. X in the story when he requests for a leave of absence to take care of all the problems that have resulted from his life of compulsive gambling. The most single dramatic scene for me was, while the reporter went into the gambler's anonymous meetings, his son was put into a meeting of "Gam-A-Teen", a group for children of gamblers. The scene involved the testimony of one teen boy who said that, although he realized that compulsive gambling was a problem & that his father needed help, he could not forgive his father for the grief that he put his family through, and, that if he got the opportunity, he would KILL his father. This was delivered in such a cold, serious fashion that I will never forget it. So, if you think that compulsive gambling is not a serious addiction as you thought, check out this gem from the 80's, and contemplate how much worse it can be today.