Cast: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich, Gretchen Mol, Martin Landau, John Turturro
Director: John Dahl
Previews: Pleasantville, Rush Hour
I can tell that fall has come. It's not because of the cooler temperatures, changing colors, the sound of the pigskin, or the stowing away of BBQ grills and swimsuits, which made me think that way. . The thought has returned to movieland, and the stakes of summers cinematic ante have been raised, and will continue to be, as we close into the winter Oscar hopeful deluge.
What a perfect way to start this, then with a movie strong on performances, mood, brains and logic, but a bit short on pacing and plot. John Dahl's first movie in 2 years (since 1996's Unforgettable (which was for some critics, but quite a joy for me), the card hustling/life lesson filled Rounders, shows us, throughout, that life is indeed a poker game, and that poker isn't really a game at all, but an art form. Mike McDermott (Damon) has mastered this art form, but one bad turn, turns him away, and towards a career in law. But the release of a seemingly true friend from prison, brings Damon back to the game, after a sabbatical, and, as one character puts it "..we can't control who we are, destiny, chooses us" so he's pulled back into things. Without spoiling too much of the plot, money is lost, found, and owed, to some not so nice characters, who are (in another of the movies wonderful analogies) "..piranha, who will not fight each other, but team up on fresh meat"
The story serves more as a series of life events. The effects of the choices that we make, on others, and ourselves and how things around us are indeed a gamble, and can turn on "a deal of the cards". Dahl's movies have been mostly hits with me (save the Val Kilmer snoozer Kill Me Again) because he is indeed a master at weaving a moral into a story, making the people and characters real, but dark, like people you know exist, but really aren't sure if you'd want to ever meet. The performances, for the most part, are solid. Norton, as the aptly named Worm, is a shifty, shady, yet mysteriously deep and elusive character study. He continues to amaze, showing flashes of brilliance again here, and an amazing versatility, he's going to have a golden visitor sometime in his acting future. Mol, as the patient, yet independent girlfriend, Turturro, as the almost-mentorish worldly wise "friend in a world where you don't have many" and Landau, carrying his darkishly creepy, yet powerfully paternal side, last seen in X-Files, genescized from Ed Wood, are strong in their supporting roles. Only the usually reliable Malkovich falters here. He was the sole reason that I saw Con-Air, and about the only thing I enjoyed. Here, he just looks silly, as the Oreo munching Russian poker heavy with connections. He seems to be possessed by the soul of Boris Badenov, and even his dramatic, power moments seem cartoonish and silly. But the true star of this movie is Damon. He shows here, more than ever before, that he is a leading man to be contended with, and that he can carry a movie. His strong, emotional, real performance, helps you feel what he lives, his ups, and downs, his desperations, elations, yet pull towards a predestined force inside him
Rounders hits, more than it misses. It is heavy on techniques and lingo, more familiar to those who watch televised poker, or frequent the smokey rooms of Vegas or Atlantic City. The darkside of those rooms is unwrapped effectively here. Dahl is an exquisite filmmaker and intense storyteller. He makes you feel and see sides of the world, that some of us would rather not. The movie is slow in pace, but then again, so is life itself. In the beginning, I thought I was going to see Good Will Hunting goes to Vegas (as witnessed by a nice scene at a poker game), but the movie ups the ante by going into the abuse of a talent, and the repercussions of the actions. Like only a few other filmmakers can, he lets you know the people here, and makes you care, and makes you leave the theater reevaluating your own life, and the chances you take. See a matinee of this one, if you are patient, or have a strong knowledge of cards.($$$1/2)
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