Mississippi Grind Movie Review

Mississippi Grind (2015)

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Written by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Directed by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, Yvonne Landry
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A compulsive gambler Gerry sets out on a trek down the Mississippi, hoping a new friend, Curtis can change his luck.

Verdict
It's a character study about a compulsive gamblers who can't quit. The questions raised by the movie aren't philosophical, but due to vagueness. Reynold's character feels out of place due to his incredible luck, and his point is never quite clear.
While it has a certain charm to it, you never quite know to what the movie is building and the ending feels off. We're given hope that Mendelsohn's character will turn it around but it feel disingenuous. There isn't a reason to be hopeful. He's going to keep gambling. The ending doesn't ruin it, but it just doesn't feel right.
It depends.

Review
I hadn't seen Mendohson until the Netflix show Bloodline. He was a standout in that, and with Ryan Reynolds and poker, I decided to watch Mississippi Grind.

Reynolds always plays variations of the same jovial and slightly goofy character.
The first scene sets the stage. This isn't a glamorized, high stakes poker movie like Rounders (which I enjoyed). Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) is addicted and can't quit. For whatever reason Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) takes a liking to Gerry. Curtis doesn't care about gambling, he just likes meeting people. That's what he tells the incredulous Gerry.

Gerry is a shell of a person. The money he makes goes to gambling. Gerry sees Curtis as a good luck charm, a way to win back enough money to pay off all of his debts. Curtis does seem to have an almost supernatural knack at winning, and Curtis agrees to stake Gerry, for no other reason than to see what will happen. We get a piece of a clue as to why Curtis is doing this. In St. Louis his girlfriend asks him where he found Gerry and what's in it for him. She references other people Curtis has picked up. Curtis replies it's all about the journey.

Mississippi Grind - They're are always winners and losers.

The movie shows us just how desperate Gerry is. He's willing to lie and steal for more money so he can keep gambling. Curtis even gets Gerry beaten up, retribution for losing big and lying about it.
When they're down to just two-hundred dollars, Curtis tells Gerry to buy a bus ticket and go home. Gerry wants to begin betting, so Curtis leaves.

Curtis almost feels like an angel or something supernatural at times. He's completely carefree and always seems to appear when Gerry needs him. His luck is so incredible it defies logic. His goal, it seems, is to help people and he focuses on degenerate gamblers.
The end of the movie teeters towards Gerry won big and is changed, but  I don't buy that for a second. Gerry doesn't know when to quit. Maybe he goes back home, but he'll lose that money. The tone of the ending is the opposite to what we've seen. Even their winnings seemed too much.