Rounders

December 12, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 121 min Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

DVD QuickTake

I’m not a big card player, so I have no idea how accurate the movies portrayal of poker players actually is. I’m guessing that like most professions Hollywood tries to tell us about, there’s a little bit of truth here, and a lot of fiction to make it seem more interesting. Doesn’t really matter either way though to the movie.

Mike (Matt Damon) is a poker player, and a very good one at that. Worm (Edward Norton) is his buddy from school who while talented at the game, would rather play a little dirty using signals and such in order to “get an edge.” In other words, he cheats… a lot. When Mike loses everything he’s got in one game he swears off poker and concentrates on his law school classes. Doesn’t take long for him to be lured back into the game though when Worm is released from prison and wants to build himself up a stake in order to pay off some debts. That’s the movie in a nutshell, and I promise I didn’t give anything away.

In all the movie isn’t bad, but it seems a little long and just doesn’t really grab your attention. It’s worth watching though, but I’d make it a rental.

Posted by John | Filed Under 2 Stars, DVD, Drama, Edward Norton, Matt Damon, R