Starring Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff and Michael Caine Directed by Bob Rafelson Rated R, with profanity, sexuality and violence Running time 101 minutes We give this film a rating of 6 out of 10

(March 13, 1997) -- Larceny, betrayal and greed: ahh, the ingredients of rich entertainment. But too many cooks spoil the broth of Blood and Wine, a should-have-been potboiler that only seems to have the recipe for success.

After all, the film re-teams director Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson, who made magic (albeit more than two decades ago) with Five Easy Pieces and King of Marvin Gardens. At first glance, Blood and Wine seems to offer the kind of elements that would push both men to their best.

On the other hand, you have to remember that they also collaborated on a grueling remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice in 1981, as well as the virtually unwatchable Man Trouble in 1992. So it's not as if their record together is unblemished.

Still, give both credit for trying. There is much to admire about their work in Blood and Wine. But the film itself never quite revs up to match their efforts.

Nicholson plays Alex Gates, a Miami wine merchant whose life is crumbling around him. His marriage is shaky, his business is shakier. The only solution to his problems seems to lie in the theft of a million-dollar diamond necklace from the home of one of his customers.

His partner is an emphysemic British safecracker named Victor (Michael Caine), who has a fence lined up to pay them for the diamonds. While the robbery goes relatively smoothly, neither counts on the fury of a woman scorned: Alex's wife, Suzanne (Judy Davis).

She catches on that Alex is taking off with his Cuban mistress Gabrielle (Jennifer Lopez), leaving her behind with no money and a mountain of bills. In an argument that gets rapidly physical, she knocks Alex out, empties his suitcase, fills it with her own clothes and takes off with her son Jason (Stephen Dorff), who has a venomous relationship with stepdad Alex.

They only later realize that one of the suitcase's pockets contains the stolen necklace. As Suzanne and Jason hide out in Key Largo, plotting their future, Alex and Victor frantically try to track them down and recover the diamonds.

The poison flows in all directions, however, as everything that can go wrong does. When Suzanne is killed in a car accident fleeing Victor and Alex, Jason begins a vendetta against Alex, creating suspicion between him and Victor. At the same time, Jason becomes involved with Gabrielle, further muddying the waters.

A story like this has to build momentum and create a sense of fatal inevitability. Too often, however, the script by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross feels as though it was written from a template: "At this point Alex (insert unexpected twist here)." Though the action has an unexpected quality that mimics the sloppiness of real life, it usually feels less organic to the story than the contrivance of the storyteller.

Part of the problem is character development. There obviously is long-standing bad blood between stepfather and stepson, yet it is never sufficiently explained to justify Jason's red-hot hatred for Alex (which never seems reciprocal). Similarly, there is a potentially interesting relationship between Alex and Victor, but it is never explored. What we get is Nicholson in a character who alternately simmers and boils over, when he isn't flailing helplessly. Nicholson has a face that can reflect all the disappointments and doubts of a lifetime, but the material is never up to his level.

Dorff is playing a character with long-standing grudges. But he also must capture the kid's youthfulness and even romanticism, in the face of deadly evidence to the contrary. He gives a good performance, but he, too, is played false by the script.

It would have been interesting to see how Blood and Wine had turned out, if a writer like Robert Towne or William Goldman had been behind it. That, unfortunately, is only a what-if, one of many that make Blood and Wine a tantalizing disappointment.