Rating of
3/4
Rounders review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 12/17/11
Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) looses a huge amount to Russian mafioso named Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), a skilled Oreo eating owner of an illegal poker club. Jo (Gretchen Mol) leaves Mike for catching him playing again after vowing he would stop his habit of playing cards. Knish (John Turturro) offers many advices and offers Mike a decent job. A wise and humble Petrovsky (Martin Landau) helps McDermott with his problems. Lester 'Worm' Murphy (Edward Norton) causes troubles for his his supportive and trust worthy friend.
The pace of the story, editing and acting (with then unpopular) was superb, if only the other factors like soundtrack and direction were better. Only qualms I had were the lack of a strong female character, sometimes flighty plot and a fitting conclusion of Worm. This reviewer particularly loved the screenplay with lines from Petrovsky "We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us." Worm - "Like my uncle Les used to say "When the money is gone, it's time to move on." Mike - "You can shear a sheep many times, but skin him only once." A film of trust, choosing the right friends, maturity and redemption. Rounders is a wonderful drama especially poker/card enthusiasts. One of the best, if not the best, Poker film created.
