I'm always overly optimistic when new poker movies come out, but this looks decent.
It looks a lot like California Split, right down to Elliot Gould's/Ryan Reynolds's busted up noses:
I'm always overly optimistic when new poker movies come out, but this looks decent.
It looks a lot like California Split, right down to Elliot Gould's/Ryan Reynolds's busted up noses:
California split is god
It actually looks pretty good, I am definitely going to see it.
Looks like a Cali split remake. I hate that poker movies always talk about tells.
The guy on the left was unbelievable in Bloodlines on Netflix.
His performance was about as good as it gets. Stole the show
This looks like a decent movie, Ben Mendelsohn has the desperate, degenerate gambler look down packed
Perhaps he studied Michael Borovetz's online pics.Originally Posted by jacosta24
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Poker as a MacGuffin.
Is this just a remake & and the MacGuffin is no longer novel or interesting as it was when California split was released.
Hitchcock defined a MacGuffin as the object around which the plot revolves, but as to what that object specifically is, he declared, "the audience don't care".
This is a hell of a gamble shrink. We talking Shakespeare?
Lucas, on the other hand, believes that the MacGuffin should be powerful and that "the audience should care about it almost as much as the duelling heroes and villains on-screen".
Darn, you may be drawing dead.
Your top 4 most anticipated movies list was so bizarre that it may have been a level or the rememberance of a difficult puberty.
Lucky You changed poker movie criticism forever. But let me ask, would you dare try to reprise that thread with this movie?
The action's on you kid.
Everything looked pretty good about this trailer except the "tells" part.
This one could go either way
I will watch it most likely when it hits rental/internet but just like any gambling movie over the past decade my expectations are low.
So I watched this movie last night (it's currently available on DirecTV before it hits theaters this month and I managed to find a torrent).
I thought it was a brilliant gambling movie. It's certainly not a poker movie. There are really only about 3 poker scenes. None are too over-the-top with quads vs. straight flushes or anything like that.
One major criticism people might have is that it's just a warmed-over version of California Split. Anyone who has seen Robert Altman's 1974 film will immediately draw comparisons. In many respects, that's probably a valid point. The main premises in the two films are basically the same - two gambling degens meet over a poker game, form an immediate friendship, and then go on a gambling road trip. Even the promotional material for the films looks the same:
At times I wondered if the director was purposely drawing parallels with California Split because some scenes almost seem like shot-for-shot remakes. Hell, I've seen remakes of films that are LESS similar to the original than Mississippi Grind is similar to California Split. Just as an example of how the stories mirror each other (and I won't spoil much here), in both movies the two main characters meet playing poker, they get drunk together that night, one of them passes out on the other's couch before going to work the next day, the guy who isn't working goes to the race track and tries to get the other to come with him, the other guy ditches work and meets him at the race track. Exact same series of events in both movies.
Given the subject matter, the overall themes are naturally similar as well. Mississippi Grind does a much better job than last year's The Gambler starring Mark Walhberg (a remake of the 1974 film starring James Caan) at examining the mystique of gambling and the psyche of a compulsive gambler. The Gambler was hot garbage. It was way too fixated on the Freudian notion that deep down, problem gamblers really want to lose to punish themselves (fun fact: No they don't). It was also pretentious and down-right boring. Mississippi Grind is much more interesting than The Gambler and moves along at a snappier pace.
I also think Mississippi Grind is better than California Split. There's not as much pointless meandering and the characters develop in a more intriguing way. In California Split you don't learn much about the protagonists apart from a rough idea that Elliott Gould is a huge degen and George Segal is a novice gambler who gets sucked into the degen world. In Mississippi Grind we slowly learn more and more about Curtis and Gerry as the story progresses that brings the whole point of the movie into focus. The development of the character of Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) is particularly compelling as you are always wondering that there must be something more about this guy that I hasn't been revealed yet. I actually think Mississippi Grind is mainly about social connections and gambling is simply the Macguffin (as per Sanlmar's suggestion).
I highly recommend this flick. It's certainly not going to ignite a new poker boom but for gambling nerds it's a fun ride for a couple hours.
(by the way, Ben Mendelsohn is spectacular in this movie)
one thing that bothered me
Thanks for this. Went to watch the movie and although I wish I hadn't clicked on the spoiler above, I bet my friend that that's what would happen at the end and won £5 off him LOL
Also, it allowed me to figure out something else earlier on in the movie, that he would win his big throw of the dice near the end, for another £5, earning me £10 profit hehe
BALLIN'!!
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