Rounders (1998)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

John Dahl

Writers (WGA):

David Levien (written by) &
Brian Koppelman (written by)

Release Date:

11 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

You've got to play the hand you're dealt.

Plot:

A young man (Damon) is a reformed gambler who must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. |

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Loan Shark | Tattoo | Loud Shirt | Courtroom Scene

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Matt Damon	...	Mike McDermott
Edward Norton	...	Lester 'Worm' Murphy
Paul Cicero	...	Russian Thug
John Turturro	...	Joey Knish
Ray Iannicelli	...	Kenny
Gretchen Mol	...	Jo
Famke Janssen	...	Petra
Merwin Goldsmith	...	Sy
John Malkovich	...	Teddy KGB
Martin Landau	...	Abe Petrovsky
Sonny Zito	...	Tony
Michael Rispoli	...	Grama
Melina Kanakaredes	...	Barbara
Mal Z. Lawrence	...	Irving
Josh Mostel	...	Zagosh

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong language, some sexuality and brief drug use.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Despite the rise in No Limit Texas Hold'em interest in conjunction with this film's release, the characters play a wide variety of poker variants: No Limit Hold'em is played with Teddy KGB at the beginning and end of the film, the Judge's game is a 7 card Stud game, the College Boys are playing Stud variants (notably Chicago), when Worm and Mike go the Chesterfield the first time the game is Forced Rotation (alternating hands of Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud usually), Worm plays 7 card Stud later at the Chesterfield, the Taj Mahal game is Limit Hold'em, the Union game is a Draw or Stud game, Mike plays Draw or Stud (it appears in the short scene)with the Greeks, the Cigar Club game is 7 card Stud Hi-Lo, the Golf pro game is a Pot Limit Omaha/Stud game, and the State police game is 7 card Stud. By the way all the games played are part of the World Series of Poker competition (though the main event is No Limit Texas Hold'em)

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first part of the final poker game between KGB and Mike, when KGB has just reraised $5000, Mike starts pushing all his chips forward to go all in, the shot is taken from behind KGB and you can see KGB's left hand touching his face. The next shot from the opposite direction (when you see the continuation of Mike pushing his chips forward) KGB's hand is down on the table.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mike McDermott: Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: John Malkovich/T.I. (#34.10)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Baby, I'm A Big Star Now

Very underrated character piece, although not without its flaws

"Rounders" is about a straight-flying legal student (Matt Damon) who leaves behind his gambling habits to satisfy his moralistic girlfriend. However when his best friend "Worm" (Edward Norton) is released from jail, the two embark on a cards-journey that leads them from success to misfortune after Worm is caught cheating and the man who caught him (John Malkovich) wants his money back.

Whereas Ben Affleck continues to go downhill after "Good Will Hunting," Matt Damon has striven uphill, taking on daring productions such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The Bourne Identity" series, and of course "Rounders," which features one of his best performances. Damon has become typecast as some sort of bad actor in the league of Affleck, but he's much better than his pal, and films like this prove it.

Norton is once again superb as one of his characters you love to hate. He's got the character of Worm down pat, and it really elevates the acting (along with Damon) to a level of greatness.

The film is directed and written very well, offering realistic dialog and gritty environments. However the flaws of the movie are its long running time (two hours exactly), which could have been shortened, and probably the fact that its card playing is sometimes a bit alienating to the audience.

That said, this is still a very underrated movie featuring outstanding performances and a unique spin on gambling flicks. Worth watching at least once in a lifetime.