Rounders (1998)

A young, reformed gambler must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks, while balancing his relationship with his girlfriend and his commitments to law school.

Director:

John Dahl

Writers:

David Levien, Brian Koppelman

Stars:

Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Mike McDermott
Gretchen Mol	...	Jo
John Malkovich	...	Teddy KGB
Paul Cicero	...	Russian Thug
Ray Iannicelli	...	Kenny
John Turturro	...	Joey Knish
Merwin Goldsmith	...	Sy
Sonny Zito	...	Tony
Josh Mostel	...	Zagosh
Mal Z. Lawrence	...	Irving
Lenny Clarke	...	Savino
Peter Yoshida	...	Henry Lin
Jay Boryea	...	Russian Thug #2
Lenny Venito	...	Moogie
Martin Landau	...	Abe Petrovsky

Storyline

A young, reformed gambler must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks, while balancing his relationship with his girlfriend and his commitments to law school.

---

Plot Keywords:

poker | female frontal nudity | gambling | female nudity | loan shark | 

---

Taglines:

All your hopes and dreams...crushed.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, some sexuality and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew Russian

Release Date:

11 September 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apuesta final

Filming Locations:

25 Henry Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,459,126, 13 September 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$22,905,674, 8 November 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Spanky Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writers David Levien and Brian Koppelman have cameos in the Atlantic City poker scene; they're two of the players used to illustrate giveaway tells.

---

Goofs

During the judges game, Dowling refers to Judge Kaplan as "Carroll," the last name of his real name.

---

Quotes

Teddy KGB: That ace could not have helped you.
[drops all of his chips onto the table]
Teddy KGB: I bet it all.
Mike McDermott: [laughs] You're right Teddy, the ace didn't help.
[pushes chips towards the center and flops down his cards]
Mike McDermott: I flopped the nut straight.

---

Connections

Referenced in Richard Roeper & the Movies: Iron Man 2 (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Chitlins Con Carne
Written by Kenny Burrell
Performed by The Johnny Lewis Quartet
Courtesy of Ubiquity Recordings, Inc./Luv N'Haight Records

User Reviews

Very underrated character piece, although not without its flaws

"Rounders" is about a straight-flying legal student (Matt Damon) who leaves behind his gambling habits to satisfy his moralistic girlfriend. However when his best friend "Worm" (Edward Norton) is released from jail, the two embark on a cards-journey that leads them from success to misfortune after Worm is caught cheating and the man who caught him (John Malkovich) wants his money back.

Whereas Ben Affleck continues to go downhill after "Good Will Hunting," Matt Damon has striven uphill, taking on daring productions such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The Bourne Identity" series, and of course "Rounders," which features one of his best performances. Damon has become typecast as some sort of bad actor in the league of Affleck, but he's much better than his pal, and films like this prove it.

Norton is once again superb as one of his characters you love to hate. He's got the character of Worm down pat, and it really elevates the acting (along with Damon) to a level of greatness.

The film is directed and written very well, offering realistic dialog and gritty environments. However the flaws of the movie are its long running time (two hours exactly), which could have been shortened, and probably the fact that its card playing is sometimes a bit alienating to the audience.

That said, this is still a very underrated movie featuring outstanding performances and a unique spin on gambling flicks. Worth watching at least once in a lifetime.