Year: 1998
Category: Drama.
Director: John Dahl.
Cast: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, John Turturro, Martin Landau, Famke Janssen, Michael Rispoli, Adam LeFevre, Goran Visnjic, Bill Camp.
There are several movies with a narrative about poker, some more fun than others, however, Rounders manages to capture the essence of poker in the 90s better than any other. The film follows the personal evolution of the character played by Matt Damon, who practically lives playing poker, which makes the main theme, poker, become the soul of the film, showing us the different types of players that exist, the different places where you could play in a time when poker was not dominated by online games, the types of games that can be played and the ways in which it should be played, all while constantly mentioning a selection of words mentioned by the great celebrities in the history of poker to justify their actions.
Rounders tells the story of Mike McDermott, a character played by Matt Damon, a young law student, who motivated by his dream of winning the World Series of Poker decides to take all his money and visit the underground Texas hold 'em game run by Russian mobster Teddy "KGB", the villain of the story played by John Malkovich who loves to eat his cookies, but the trust that young Mike had in himself and his skills become his greatest weakness when he begins to underestimate the other players, especially Teddy "KGB", with whom he loses all his money in a poker hand.
As a result of this incident Mike decides to stop playing and ask his friend and mentor Joey Knish, an experienced player who has managed to live for 15 years without working thanks to his skill and caution when playing poker, a part-time job. Nine months later, Mike is still retired from the poker rooms even though the desire to play returned, however, he promised his girlfriend and partner Jo, played by Gretchen Mol, that he would not play again, but that changes when Mike's best friend, Lester "Worm" Murphy, played by Edward Norton, is released from prison.
Worm is a dishonest player, with a compulsive attitude that motivates him to cheat on every occasion, and owes money to Grama, a dangerous pimp partner of Teddy "KGB" played by Michael Rispoli, so Mike is somehow dragged by the problems of his friend, putting his relationship with Jo and his career at risk and starting a trip to find himself.
The main actors do their work correctly, Matt Damon Matt Damon plays a similar role to Good Will Hunting, that is, a smart young man with immature friends, only this time instead of helping him, they give him problems; a girlfriend who is also a law student; and two mentors; one emotional and one professional. On the other hand, I think the best interpretation of the film is Edward Norton as Worm, however, John Malkovich, John Turturro, Martin Landau and Famke Janssen also do their job well despite having less participation. The performances of Gretchen Mol and Michael Rispoli are the weakest of the film, but not too disappointing.
I think that Rounders is an excellent film, but not for all types of audience, I think it is a film especially aimed at poker players,Because although the film tries to guide the viewer explaining each movement through the story of Matt Damon, the small details, which are what give more complexity to the film, requires that the viewer knows about the game, about the world around it, and especially the time when the predominant poker was kept out of internet.
In fact, if you are reading this because you already saw the movie, or if after watching it you like it and want to know more, you can try to read the script or the novel that expands the story a bit more:
On the other hand, the director John Dahl, who has directed Kill Me Again (1989), Red Rock West (1993), The Last Seduction (1994), Unforgettable (1996), Joy Ride (2001), The Great Raid (2005), You Kill Me (2007) and episodes in the series Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Homeland, Dexter, Californication, True Blood, Battlestar Galactica, The Vampire Diaries, Justified, Shameless, Arrow, Person of Interest, Hannibal, The Americans and many others, do an excellent job here, do not try to complicate things with secondary plots and drama, and make the story advance quickly and smoothly, the characters go from one table to another playing poker from the first moment to the last, something that is really very good for all the viewers who watched this movie looking to find something that really was about poker and not about emotional relationships.
In conclusion, it is not a technically perfect film, the execution of some scenes are not precise, it does not have fantastic interpretations, however, it maintains a narrative consistent with itself that makes it acceptable, besides, it increases its quality by itself if it is seen by the right audience, something that makes it a perfect niche movie, great for poker players.
If you are in France and have Netflix you can find it available in your catalog at the time of publishing this review, but if you are not in France you can simply go to amazon and rent it or buy it in HD or even Blu-ray.
