Rounders (1998)
Director: John Dahl Cast: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro, Gretchen Mol, Famke Janssen, John Malkovich, Martin Landau, Michael Rispoli Screenplay: David Levien, Brian Koppelman Producers: Ted Demme, Joel Stillerman Runtime: 115 US Distribution: Miramax Rated R: language, sex, drug use
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
Rounders, if you haven't heard, is a film about people who play poker for a living. It involves a lot of illegal gambling, and much of it takes place in casinos. As we were driving out of the theater, my friend noted that it was impressive that director John Dahl managed to make a film about gambling interesting to people who live in a gambling town. I've lived in Reno my entire life, and one of the misconceptions most people have is that casinos are everywhere, and that locals know everything there is to know about gambling. Apparently, my friend has this opinion as well.
The fact is, most locals I know spend less than two dollars per year gambling. I, myself, have spent 55 cents over the course of my entire life. Nobody knows anything about gambling. It's a mystery unless you *work* in a casino. That's why gambling is so fascinating to everyone, including Renoites. Sure, we ignore it for the most part, but that doesn't mean we don't find it interesting. As I understand it, most people find gambling immensely interesting. That's probably why Rounders is likely to be a big hit -- it successfully delves into things that most of us have never seen. It also makes gambling seem hugely appealing, a trait no gambling film I've ever watched has had.
Of course, it's more specific than "gambling" -- it takes us deep into the world of professional poker, where people bet their entire life savings on one hand. It tells the story of true card sharks -- the poker professionals who don't rely on luck, but on skill -- knowing what cards everyone has, and knowing how to read body language. The film stars the ultra-popular Matt Damon as Mike McDermott, a law school student who, at the beginning of the film, loses everything he has in one poker game; his opponent is a crazy Russian known as KGB (John Malkovitch).
He vows never to go back to the game. He gets a "real" job driving a truck, and moves in with his girlfriend, Jo (Gretchen Mol). Everything is going great until Mike's best friend, Worm (Edward Norton), is released from jail. Worm is, of course, a pro poker player, not to mention an incredibly pushy guy: he drags Mike back into the poker underworld, and soon Mike has dropped everything, including school and his girlfriend. Then, predictably, Mike is put into a position in which he must vouch for Worm -- it's then up to him to pay for all of Worm's debts.
Okay, so a lot of this sounds pretty familiar. Rounders is a smooth, likable movie, but it is dreadfully predictable (and often strangely contrived). Of course Mike is going to get back into poker. Of course Worm is going to get himself into trouble. Of course Mike's going to end up "vouching for the wrong guy" (who, incidentally, is his best friend). And, of course, there is going to be one final showdown with KGB. I could see the gears turning in David Levien's and Brian Koppelman's script as they force the events to end up just as they began. Interestingly, the predictability didn't bother me as I watched the film. Dahl (The Last Seduction, Unforgettable) does such a sharp job directing that I can't imagine not falling prey to its charming qualities.
It's probably the way he films the scenes, and the way he uses his actors. Dahl doesn't use a lot of camera tricks, but his camera is always moving, panning and circling around the numerous poker tables. The film is ridiculously entertaining, and many of the scenes provide solid belly laughs: my favorite scene has all of the film's main characters (all of whom are poker pros) sitting at a table in the Taj Mahal, waiting for tourists to come up and waste their money. It's such a well-done scene; the reactions of the numerous neophytes losing their cash is particularly good.
The screenplay is good in its details, and provides a lot of strong characters for a magical cast. Damon, unlike many of his peers, is actually a gifted actor -- he handles the emotional ups and downs with ease. (My only concern is that after this film and his last two, Good Will Hunting and The Rainmaker, he's going to be typecast as the know-it-all with an attitude.) Norton, on the other hand, turns in a performance vastly different from all of his previous (does this guy have range or what?). He's a strong screen presence, and great fun to watch. John Malkovitch has a lot of fun with his role, and though his Russian accent isn't perfect, it's interesting to see Malkovitch without that strange voice of his. Supporting performances from Famke Janssen, John Turturro, and particularly Martin Landau (as Mike's professor) are all very good.
I didn't much like the film's end, because none of the subplots end with satisfaction. The girlfriend subplot whimpers to a close, and the relationship between Mike and Worm -- which is the film's central conflict -- also concludes anticlimactically. Overall, though, I didn't mind the flaws: Rounders is an absorbing and amusing picture to sit through. And, as my friend pointed out, it will even interest the 1 million people who live in cities with gambling. John Dahl and his array of actors have managed to take us all somewhere that we haven't been before by explaining the way poker really works. It just makes me want to go out and blow thirty thousand dollars.
*** out of **** (7/10, B)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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