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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 3103
Released: September 7, 2004 |
| Our Price: $5.79 |
| Used Price: $3.88 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Master poker player Mike gives up gambling for law school but is lured back into the game when his friend gets out of prison and is in over his head with a ruthless Russian card shark.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 7-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD
Description of Rounders (Collector's Edition):
A little drunk on its own arcane exotica as a gambling movie, Rounders is a film that takes us inside a world of high-stakes card players but falls short on such essentials as character development, relationships, that sort of thing. Still, it is a real curiosity, written by a couple of guys (David Levien and Brian Koppelman) who appear to know something about the dark underbelly of card hustling for fun and profit. Matt Damon stars as a reluctant law student who can't put aside his subterranean career of playing poker and blackjack for big money. After he loses his post-grad nest egg to a weird Russian kingpin (John Malkovich)--and also loses his disgusted girlfriend (Gretchen Mol) in the process--Damon's character turns to an unreliable old buddy (Edward Norton) for a dangerous game of sharking wherever there happens to be a game underway: frat boys, cops, bad dudes, you name it. Norton appears to be living out every young actor's fantasy of re-creating Robert De Niro's prototypical head case in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and while his performance is burdened by obvious quotation marks, his estimable talent still shines through. Damon's charm and intelligence bring some oomph to the curiously flat proceedings, and while his hushed, soul-bearing scenes with Martin Landau (as a law professor who takes a shine to the kid) seem gratuitous, they're still nice to watch. Behind all this is director John Dahl (Red Rock West), who is not exactly at the top of his game here but who brings his distinctive toughness to the crime-noir tone. --Tom Keogh
Rounders (Collector's Edition) Reviews:
Great Casino Movie! 
2008-07-23 - A great Casino movie with a great cast! Gives a lesson to be learned! This is truly a classic!
Great Poker Movie 
2008-07-17 - Rounders is a great movie about the underground poker clubs in NY.
I do what it at least once a year.
ROUNDERS: The Poker Movie
2008-07-09 - Rounders is a movie that is guilty of coming out a couple years too early. It was released in 1998...and of course a few years later Poker was shown on every channel there is most days of the week. I guess it's all in the timing!
Still, the movie is an excellent cross of mob movie and gambling lesson. Matt Damon plays the greatest friend in the world to Edward Norton...until it gets him into the biggest debt with the worst person. Then it's time to let the cards and the poker-faces do the settling. Rounders gets better and better each time I watch it and if you're a fan of Poker (particularly Texas Hold 'Em) then you need to watch this movie.
For DVD afficianados, there's plenty of extras. Chief among them two decent commentary tracks. One is movie insightful with the director and Edward Norton. The second commentary has Johnny Chan and 3 of the top Poker players in the world...it's a fun listen.
I highly recommend you see Rounders. At the least it'll give you a two-hour break from the tables.
"You shoulda played those kings."
2008-07-06 - The realest poker movie to date.
It ain't perfect, but Rounders is often great. There was a time when you couldn't sit down at a table without hearing constant quotes from this flick. And there are so many good ones.
The guys who made this were clearly players. The opening is absolutely perfect, one of the great card scenes on film, hands down. Malkovich is truly hilarious, so over the top but so perfect. Poker is full of characters like Teddy KGB, guys you'd never believe if they weren't sitting right in front of you.
Damon is faultless throughout the film; he plays his role as well as anyone could.
Norton, ditto. This is one of his best movies even now, a decade later.
The cameos are perfection; Landau and the judges are good humor. The mokes are all believable, no mean feat. The only weak link is Mol, who quite simply isn't on everyone else's level. Then again, her character is so annoying that it's a relief to see so little of her.
It still bugs me that Mike and Worm cheated the preppies. I despise cheaters, so it's hard to give Mike the respect he deserves even when he refuses to cheat any more. Still, it's true to the story and the characters.
Turturro is Knish to a T. His moments with Mike are priceless, excellent snippets of poker wisdom. "You know you can beat the hi-lo at that goulash joint...".
This movie is quoted so often and by so many players because it's damn close to reality, Hollywood moments notwithstanding. There's some cheese here and there but in general this is the best poker film of them all; The Cinci Kid finally has a successor.
There's a better one waiting, but until then, Rounders is the nuts.
As for the extras, the lessons are too funny. The very best is good ol' Chris Moneymaker, Mr. Boom hisself, who counsels us, "NEVER call."
That section alone is worth buying this dvd for. Throw in the commentary by the pros, which is also unintentionally funny time and again, and this is a dvd that will get played dozens of times, especially after a really bad night.
Somehow Worm can always cheer you up.
"You shoulda played those kings, Mike."
Fantastic movie. Great acting from principals and supporting cast
2008-05-28 - I still don't understand how this game is played, but I enjoyed the great acting from Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Exceptional support from John Tuturro, Famke Janssen (gorgeous), Gretchen Mol (beautiful) and especially John Malkovich as Teddy KGB: "He beet me, street up. peyee thet main his myknee." Fantastic script and direction, in terms of pacing, tension and drama. One of my all-time favorite movies of Matt Damon and Edward Norton.
