Mississippi Grind

Easily Ryan Reynolds best film, Mississipi Grind is a tale about the sickness **** addiction and just how far a man will go to feed it. Reynolds and Ben Mendelshon share a sense of a brilliant comradely with Reynold's charm seemingly complimenting Mendelshon's desperation to win back the money he owes. Mississippi Grind is a incredibly well-acted and truly engrossing character study of 2 very flawed men that deserves more recognition than it receives.

A gambling addict, fallen on hard times, joins a charismatic free-spirited younger player as they travel the American south along the mighty Mississippi river, pushing their luck along the way and trying to regain what’s been lost with some measure of redemption in this road trip drama from directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Although it’s not acknowledged as a remake, ‘Mississippi Grind’ shares too much with Robert Altman’s ‘California Split’ to not have been at the very least heavily influenced by the 1974 gambling classic. Ryan Reynolds delivers his customary charming and charismatic if slightly clichéd performance as “Curtis”, the younger enigmatic gambler with a guardian angel complex and a penchant for seemingly lost causes. But it’s Ben Mendelsohn who shines with another fine performance as the heart of the piece “Gerry”, a middle-aged degenerate gambler heavily in debt, broken down by life and that most dangerous of breeds, a man unable to walk away or hedge his bets and always blaming circumstances for not being able to “catch a break”. Despite the narrative, ‘Mississippi Grind’ is not a gambling/gambler film that takes an immersive look at the nature of the activity the way that ‘Rounders’ or ‘California Split’ does. Indeed the gambling seems to function only as the affliction that drives the characters and the catalyst that delivers the few moments of genuine tension in the film. This is much more of a classic American road trip drama that centres around flawed characters searching for something, as a result we get a combination of intoxicating sights and sounds from the American south and the audience is treated to a hearty soundtrack of jazz, soul and blues as they head towards New Orleans. Much like the films that influenced it, ‘Mississippi Grind’ focuses on characters and emotional journeys, leaving enough space for audiences to make their own judgements. Ironically though this leaves a narrative that sends mixed messages about gambling addiction and the “nobility” of those who pathologically risk everything, ultimately this sluggish and slightly predicable character drama relies heavily on Ben Mendelsohn’s lead performance to engage the audience. The Bottom Line… Despite a faltering slow-burn narrative and confusing moral core, ‘Mississippi Grind’ injects a welcome and measured character focus into the gambling-drama subgenre, and stays afloat on the mighty Mississippi thanks largely to yet another accomplished Ben Mendelsohn performance.

Gambling movies have a decision to make: success or failure at the tables. A good movie makes a third choice. Mississippi Grind has all the right elements in place. Decent acting, interesting local spots up and down the Mississippi river, and an earnest, low-production style. Unfortunately it makes one of two choices for it's ending and that's that. As the ending gets near, the pace seems to slow as if it knows nothing more is going to happen.

Anyone who says they actually thought this was a good movie has infinitely more patience than an Ebola doctor in the heart of Africa. To say it drags is being unkind to anyone who has tried to move an obese corpse. I've seen way worse movies than this and that's why I really didn't like this one: If it were any worse I would have walked out on it. It's biggest problem is that Ryan Reynolds was so captivating that I sat through the whole movie. Kind of like a weakness, like gambling. You know you're in trouble when good acting is a movie's biggest problem.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]