Matt Damon Movie:

Editorial Review:
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 [Region 2] Reviews:
One of my old favorites . .
2009-11-05 - I love this movie, it was one of my old favorites and a "must have" for my dvd collection. Those of you who are Matt Damon and Ed Norton fans will love this movie!

The only thing that would make this film better is John Malkovich having a worse Russian accent...LOL
2009-09-15 - Rounders is by far the best movie about No Limit Texas Holdem ever made and will probably retain that title forever...Unless they make a Rounders II and have the EXACT same characters.

This movie stars Matt Damon and Edward Norton supported by John Malkovich, John Turturro & Marin Landau and all together ALL STAR cast. Ed Norton (Worm) is a degenerate who goes to jail for fraud and Matt Damon (Mike) is his straight and narrow friend who is always there for him until Worm puts him about 30K in the hole.

This movie is good because it is not 100% about poker or 100% about other garbage but rather a perfect blend.

glad I found it
2009-07-01 - my husband has been wanting this movie for a lomg time one day I thought amazon.com has everything i'll check I found it ordered it and loved watching it with my husband well worth the wait!

Poker before hold em exploded
2009-05-24 - Texas Hold em and the high stakes game being broadcast on ESPN and people starting to play the game are interesting and Rounders was out before things really blew up so big.

Great movie and shows the lows and highs of being a player, scamming folks, and trying to make it big.


A little lacking
2009-05-14 - Unless you're part of the current poker craze - I could not care less - some of the details in this poker movie may escape you. The acting is just ok most of the time. Malkovich steals the show as a Russian mafia card sharp, though his accent is a little over the top. Norton and Damon as the buddies have a little chemistry, but it's hard to see what Damon sees in his ex-con pal beyond the usual macho posturing. This is also a little long at two hours, but it's still fairly entertaining.