Rounders

Despite stumbling out of the gate with a rather unconvincing opening, John Dahl's "Rounders" eventually swells to a wholly satisfying experience, thanks in no small part to the snappy, sophisticated stylings within David Levien and Brian Koppelman's screenplay. The efforts aren't just on display in the memorable dialogue and narrativity, but the world-building and thematic content also comprise a good portion of this film's enjoyment. Oddly enough, my favorite scenes from the film weren't even the ones involving card playing. Matt Damon and Edward Norton's characters catching up on lost time, Matt Damon and Martin Landau's characters talking about life, and Matt Damon and John Turturro's characters talking about ambition — as much as I love seeing John Malkovich chewing the scenery (and Oreos), it's these scenes that really will stick with me. That and the excellent use of the piss filter. Gotta love that piss filter.

Blessed with good acting, the cliche of the storyline and the constant jargon are the main pitfalls of the film and the reasons it falters in the end. However, I still liked this one.

Good movie but flawed here and there. Matt Damon is solid but not top shelf here. John M lol ... terrible accent yet i still loved his performance. Edward N is so so. Best thing about this movie.... Nice to see a card movie again. Average score

If there’s a movie or its stars, that’s lost to the late ‘90’s it’s this one and its crew. This grotty swear-fest is so typical of Matt Damon and Edward Norton that it plays out like a cliché – they simply walk through their roles emulating themselves. If you’re a fan of these somewhat overrated cardboard-cut-outs then you may be ‘entertained’ (although it’s stretching the word). And, they get plenty of financial assistance from their ole mate, Harvey Weinstein. Nasty characters and sleazy situations overrun this miserable experience - leaving the feeling of needing a shower by the end. Viewers addicted to gambling or card-shark movies may feel at home with these witless lowlifes but ultimately they prove unworthy of empathy or concern. Some may even feel they’ve just spent 2 Hrs with characters the world would be better off without. Also featured in the acting high-jinks is John Malkovich, who overdoes his chocolate biscuit eating (supposedly ‘Russian’) card-shark-guru, to borderline laughable proportions. John Turturro on the other hand (no pun intended) fares best at attempting to build on a character, along with interesting Gretchen Mol as the suffering girlfriend. For diehard gambling movie fans only.