Rounders

Over Christmas the holiday boredom set in a bit and I got into poker with my nephews. They are way too young but that’s what you get when you hang out with your dodgy uncle Ben. I think one of them started drinking Scotch. Anyway it reminded me of Rounders.

Man this is a pretty thin plot; a guy loses all his money through poker and tries to win it back. Matt Damon is the man and Ed Norton is his piece of shit friend. It’s dense with poker lingo and wants to show it off, and I’m kind of into it.

He also loses his girlfriend and I thought it was a cool choice not to have him constantly trying to win her back.

The movie has a kind of noir tone, delving into the seedy underbelly of the sport and looking at people who are always falling shy of greatness, but Matt Damon isn’t a great fit for this and is a bit too middle of the road.

John Malkovich goes wildly off the scale in the other direction. He’s chewing Oreos and chewing the scenery, and it’s fun to watch but also you feel like you are witnessing one of the worst attempts at an accent since Dick Van Dyke. These over the top characters are a relic from the 90s and while objectively he makes only insane choices all through the film, it’s nevertheless fun to watch.

A cool film for cool guys only.