Rounders is a 1998 American drama about the high poker underground world, directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The story follows two friends who need to win at high risk poker to immediately pay off big debts. The term "round" refers to someone who travels from city to city looking for high-risk card games.
Rounders is open for a variety of reviews and only gets a simple box office. With the growing popularity of Texas holding 'em and other poker games, the film then became a cult hit.
Video Rounders (film)
Plot
The talented poker player and law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) dreamed of playing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. To do so, Mike moves up, gambling all his $ 30,000 while playing Texas holding them in an underground poker room, run by Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), a Russian mafia. Distracted by his dream of playing in Vegas, an overconfident Mike lost all his money in hand against the KGB when Mike went all-in and the KGB immediately called the bet (full house Mike 9 over Aces lost to a home full of KGB higher than the 9th's top aces). Shocked and desperate, Mike decides to stop playing poker and decides to concentrate on law school, while promising his girlfriend and fellow law student Jo (Gretchen Mol) that he will no longer play. Mentor and fellow Rounder Joey Knish (John Turturro) offers to set Mike up to help rebuild his money; Mike refused and instead received a part-time job driving a delivery truck for Knish to make ends meet.
Mike focuses on school and works until his childhood friend Lester "Worm" Murphy (Edward Norton) is released from prison. While Mike is an honest card player who believes he can win straight, the Worm is a cheater who often cheats to win and has no regrets about it. Mike learns that the Worm owes an extraordinary debt he spent before his arrest. To help the Worm, Mike prepared the Worm with a variety of poker games to play throughout the city, while Mike reluctantly played in one game, which interrupted Mike's study and injured his relationship with Jo. Mike prepares the Worm at Chesterfield Club, to build a bankroll to pay his debts, and allow the Worm to play on Mike's credit. The worm borrowed $ 2,000 on Mike's credit and eventually won $ 8,000; however, as he cashed in, the Worm took the full $ 10,000 (including $ 2,000 borrowed from Mike's credit), which started the tab on Mike's name, raising interest. Then, the Worm goes to Grama (Michael Rispoli), a former colleague and a dangerous pimp, at the strip club. The worm finds that Grama bought up her incredible debt and the Worm now owes $ 25,000 directly to Grama. The worm rejected Grama's power, until Grama revealed that he worked with the KGB to collect the debt. After a brief hassle of the Worm, Grama takes $ 10,000 from the Worm before hitting it and threatens to do more if the Worm does not pay the rest in the right time. As Mike's results returned to his lifestyle and poker friends, and worried that Mike would lose everything for the second time, Jo ended his relationship with Mike, refusing to go through the turmoil again.
Mike and Worm quarreled when Mike found out from Petra (Famke Janssen), one of the workers at Chesterfield, that the Worm had played in Chesterfield often under Mike's credit, which caused the Worm to lose and get Mike into a $ 6,000 debt. While in Atlantic City, Mike also discovered from Worm about the remaining $ 15,000 Worm debt for Grama. Mike and Worm go to Grama to negotiate Worm debt. Mike tries to get Grama to give worms relief on time to pay off debts, with Mike proposing that Worms pay $ 5,000 a week with "juice" (flower) running until debt is paid, calling it a "business decision" in Grama section. Grama begins to consider Mike's proposal; However, when Grama began to underestimate the Worm, the offended worm, which caused Grama angrily gave the Worm and Mike (who now has guaranteed the Worm) five days to pay the remaining $ 15,000 on the debt or face a serious loss. Mike angrily reproves the Worm for letting his ego get the best from him and putting them both in danger. Mike decides to help the Worm pay off his debts, with the Worm plan staking the game for Mike to play and win. The worm wants to cheat to do it, but Mike insists on winning it straight on some card games around New York City.
Mike started running in multiple locations around the city, won several large pots and eventually both earned $ 7,200 in three days, needing to double that amount within 48 hours to repay the debt. Mike goes with the Worm to an out-of-town game hosted by a group of New York State Forces, where Mike plays. At one point during the game, Mike was up $ 4,200 and almost had a full $ 15,000 in which the Worm finally arrived and played in Mike's game, with Worm basics giving Mike the advantage to win. Finally, the Worm is captured by the offender on the table when the Worm catches the "hangers". When it was discovered that Worm's tactics favored Mike's hand, they were both beaten and released from all their money. Mike and Worm started arguing outside, with Mike punishing the Worm for the Worm's insistence on getting the lead to win while the Worm reminded Mike that Mike's shrewd play style for playing smart and winning instantly resulted in Mike losing his money in one hand.. Mike asks the Worm to talk to Grama to get her out of debt; However, the Worm came clean and told Mike that Grama works for KGB. Being fully aware that their lives are in danger, the Worm decides to run away; However, Mike decided to return to the city to face the consequences and reduce the debt, severing ties with the Worm.
Mike decided to return to New York to face the situation. He meets with Grama to try and get an extension on the deadline. Grama scolds Mike to guarantee the Worm in the first place. Mike denounced Grama for working with KGB. Grama advises Mike to take it with the KGB, pay the remaining amount, or face a fatal fate. Mike tries to ask Knish to ask for money, before Knish rejects the principle. Mike told a story for Knish about the time in Atlantic City where Mike beat Johnny Chan in the hands of poker, which resulted in Mike running in the KGB spot at the beginning of the movie. Recalling a previous conversation with Mike with his law faculty professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), Mike went to Petrovsky's office to ask for money as a loan. Unable to give Mike $ 15,000 full, Petrovsky gave Mike $ 10,000 to help him out of trouble. Mike cashed a check from Petrovsky, and challenged the KGB for the second game of head-up, No-Limit Texas Hold'em for the remaining amount, with the winner-take-all bets, which KGB received. Mike beat the KGB in the first session, winning $ 20,000. Because Mike is satisfied with his victory, he decides to leave when the KGB calls Grama to collect $ 15,000 to redeem the debt. KGB offers Mike to let his victory "ride" and keep playing. With enough money to pay off Worm debt and half of a $ 10,000 loan from Petrovsky, Mike decides to leave the game. As he's about to leave, KGB mocks Mike, pointing out that the KGB is still up $ 20,000 that Mike lost earlier in the first game, directing Mike to continue.
Mike hesitated; then decides to continue playing, doubling the curtain at the risk of losing a second time, and perhaps his life, to Grama and KGB. As the night wore on, Mike almost lost his KGB. While on hand, he sees a lecture, repetitive behavior that allows him to know the value of a KGB hand (which is found to be the Oreo that KGB eats as he plays). Mike folded his hands, stating that the KGB had a better winning hand. KGB is confused angry that Mike folded hands that KGB should get and get paid. Enraged that Mike folded his arms and Mike potentially finds his story, the KGB angrily throws the Oreos and starts playing with a "tilt", visibly shaking that Mike has now gotten the best out of him. KGB gets frustrated because Mike will not be defeated and Mike gets better from him. In the final hand, the KGB taunts Mike as Mike slowly plays his hand (8 and 9 shovels) and allows the KGB to be arrogant to wager emotionally and eventually enter fully. Mike calls out, revealing that Mike dropped a straight nut (6 to 10) to defeat the KGB. The KGB angrily makes a fuss and becomes unaware of how Mike plays it in the second game, trapping the KGB into error. Grama urges the KGB to continue; However, completely bewildered, the KGB declares that he finished for the night. When the KGB thugs went to beat Mike, the KGB called them and after admitting that Mike beat him fairly, allowing him to go with his victory.
Mike recounts that he won over $ 60,000 as a result of his second game with KGB. Mike saved the remaining $ 15,000 of Worm debt (calling his personal problems with the Worm now "even"), he paid back $ 6,000 to Chesterfield, repaid $ 10,000 loan to Petrovsky, and returned the original money from "three piles of upper class society." Mike stepped out of law school, said good-bye to Jo, and left New York for Las Vegas with the dream of winning the World Series of Poker.
Maps Rounders (film)
Cast
- Matt Damon as Mike McDermott
- Edward Norton as Lester "Worm" Murphy
- John Turturro as Joey Knish, a character inspired by underground poker player Joel "Bagels" Rosenberg
- John Malkovich as Teddy KGB
- Famke Janssen as Petra
- Michael Rispoli as Grama
- Martin Landau as Abe Petrovsky
- Gretchen Mol as Jo
- Paul Cicero as a Russian Thug
- Melina Kanakaredes as Barbara
- Josh Mostel as Zagosh
- Tom Aldredge as Marinacci Judge
- Lenny Clarke as Savino
- Chris Messina as Higgins
- Goran Vi? nji? as Maurice
- David Zayas as Osborne
- Johnny Chan as himself
- Bill Camp as Eisenberg
- Josh Pais as Weitz
- Adam LeFerve as Sean Frye
Production
Filming
The main photography for Rounders began in December 1997; it mostly happens in New York. Exceptions include law school scenes (filmed at Rutgers School of Law-Newark) and State Trooper poker games and parking scenes (filmed at B.P.O Elks Lodge in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey).
Reception
box office
Rounders was released on September 11, 1998, in 2,176 theaters and earned $ 8.5 million during its opening weekend. It continues to generate $ 22.9 million domestically.
Critical response
Movie critic Roger Ebert gave the film three of four stars and wrote: " Rounders sometimes have noir look but never have noir feelings, because this is not about losers (or at least not. "In his review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin writes:" Although John Dahl's is a sporting figure, where talented heroes win, lose, face disaster, and then be paired for the last time against the champion. " Rounders finally adds up to less than meets the eye, what meets the eye (and ears) is very entertaining. " USA Today gave this movie three of four stars and wrote:" Card games this is well staged, and even those who do not know Texas hold-'em ('Cadillac of poker') from Texas hoedown will get the allegations of representation of the action. " Entertainment Weekly rated the movie" B "and Owen Gleiberman stepped in is, "Norton, plays a role in what might have been the role of Sean Penn (your creepy shirt, your chaotic attitude), giving cunning Worms, amfetamine souls and pleasant greed... Norton's performance never really goes anywhere , but that's okay, because the story is just an excuse to lead the character from one poker table to the next. "
Peter Travers, in his review for Rolling Stone, said of John Malkovich's performance: "Of course, nobody can guess the extent to which Malkovich is now able to chew the scene, he even surpasses his view as Cyrus the Virus at Con Air . Disturbing the Oreo cookies, splashing pots with chips (poker no-no) and speaking with a Russian accent that defies cognition ("Ho-kay, Meester sum of a beech"), Malkovich looms very far above, he passed Pluto. "In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle said of Damon's performance:" Mike has to provide less movie drives, and Damon does not.we may believe he can play cards, but we do not believes he needs to do it, in a way, say, that the 12-year-old Mozart needs to write a symphony.He is not inedible genius.He is a good man with skills. "In his review for Globe and Mail, Liam Lacey wrote: "The main problem a with Rounders is that this movie never knows what it is about: What is an ante moral? "
Despite the mediocre theatrical release, Rounders has followers, especially among poker fans.
There are poker pro players who praised the movie for putting them into the game. The film attracts successful players such as Brian Rast, Hevad Khan, Gavin Griffin and Dutch Boyd. Vanessa Rousso said the film's influence: "There are a lot of poker movies, but only Rounders that really capture the energy and tension in the game, and that's why it stands as the best poker movie ever made."
References
External links
- Rounders on IMDb
- Rounders at AllMovie
- Rounders in the TCM Movie Database
- Rounders at Rotten Tomatoes
- Rounders in Metacritic
- Rounders in Box Office Mojo
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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