Rounders Movie Review

Rounders (1998)

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Written by: David Levien & Brian Koppelman (written by)
Directed by: John Dahl
Starring: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Martin Landau
Rated: R
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Plot
A young, reformed gambler must return to playing high stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks.

Verdict
This movie makes you want to play poker whether you know the game or not. We see straight up games, cheats, and going all in. Mike has numerous setbacks to overcome and I was locked in, rooting for him the entire time. It feels like we're going behind the scenes and into this underground world of poker. I don't know if there are dozens of seedy games going on, but the movie makes me believe it. This isn't different from a sports movie in that Mike loses and then at the end has to go big and hope to win at the end.
Watch It.

Review
There's a reason this is credited as the best poker movie. I loved it the first time I saw, watching it again the next day. Years later, it's still just as good.

As confidant as Mike (Matt Damon) is, we watch him blow thirty thousand in the first sequence. Mike even warned us that plenty of good gamblers make a living by grinding, not going big. Mike wanted to go to Vegas and prove he was one of the best. With the big loss he swears off gambling and takes dead end jobs to make it through law school. With Mike's narration, it feels like an insider's guide to poker and reinforces the mental side of the game.

Matt Damon plays Mike

Mike's bid to play it straight unravels when he picks his friend Worm (Ed Norton) up from prison. The first day out Worm already has a poker game lined up. He wants Mike to help him, and while Mike initially refuses, he can't leave his best friend hanging. They fall into their routine of hustling. It's what Worm is best at doing. It's clear that Worm is going to pull Mike and everything he's built down, it's just a question of how far and fast. Mike left this world behind, but he's catching up quickly.

This is a movie that makes you want to play poker or learn how to play. It's exciting and fun, focusing on the mental aspect rather than big hands and lots of chips.

Ed Norton, Matt Damon play Worm, Mike

Mike bet he could balance Worm against his girlfriend and school work. The more time he spends with Worm the more he neglects his other responsibilities. Mike keeps extending Worm grace and keeps paying for it. They both end up in the hot seat, needing fifteen thousand dollars in a week. 

You can look at this as a tale of two gamblers. One that went straight and the other that pulls him down, but Knish (John Turturro) is another kind of gambler. While Worm looks down on him, Knish is in it for the money alone. He doesn't want fame or credit, he just wants to pay his bills. He might just be the most well off gambler we see.

Mike talks about the mental aspect of poker and knowing when to quit, but Mike hardly follows his own advice. That's part of it. It's one thing to know what to do, and another to actually do it. Mike's emotions always dictate his actions. We only hear what he tells himself, but we see that he doesn't follow it. He doesn't quit while he's ahead and can't help but go all in due to his own hubris. It makes for a grand finale.