Rounders

Directed by: John Dahl

Written by: David Levein, Brian Koppelman










There was a point - namely, the late 1990s - when Matt Damon could basically do whatever he wanted and still be king of the hill.  "Rounders" comes out of that time period.

Mike (Damon) has traded in his poker chips for a girlfriend (Mol) and law school.  But when his best friend Worm (Norton) gets out of prison, the allure of the high stakes table draws him back in to the game.  But things go suddenly wrong, and the stakes become even higher, until he has to lay it all on the line and go all-in against notorious underground poker champ Teddy KGB (Malkovich).

(If anyone can fit in any more cliches into that summary, I'll be happy to add it in!)

There's not a whole lot wrong with this movie.  I'm not saying it's great, but it definitely wears its flaws well and plays to its strengths.  And its strengths are in its principle actors - Matt Damon and Edward Norton.  Damon gives his standard performance as the lovable sinner-with-the-heart-of-gold.  Norton shines as the aptly named Worm; he exudes his character's sliminess.  Even Malkovich does a fantastic job.  (The less we say about Gretchen Mol in this film, the better.  Her part was so small that it was almost negligible.  I'm not quite sure how she ended up on the poster.)

The movie had a few pacing issues, mostly occurring when the story turned back to Damon's personal life.  Those scenes just didn't have quite the tension or drama of the poker story line, nor did they really add to Damon's character in any meaningful way.  Also, the final poker game was a bit anti-climactic.  If you don't know how that game is going to turn out, you really haven't been watching the movie at all.

"Rounders" is entertaining, and a bit of a time piece.  It shows Matt Damon before he became a caricature of himself, Edward Norton at the top of his game, and poker when it was still a bit of underground novelty outside the Vegas city line.