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.

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Plot Keywords:

poker | female frontal nudity | female nudity | scantily clad female | call girl | 

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Taglines:

it's immoral to let a sucker keep his money

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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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

The playing card brands used throughout the film, in order are: - Teddy KGB's place: Kem cards - Professor's game: Bicycle cards - Frat house game: Bicycle cards - Chesterfield's: Kem cards - Taj Mahal casino: casino branded cards - Union game: not identifiable - Cigar shop game: Bicycle cards - Coffee shop: not identifiable but "made in USA" (possibly Aviator cards, which has an Ace of Spades that resembles the one partially seen) - Golf club game: Bicycle cards - Cop game: Bicycle cards - Matt Damon vs Jon C. Chan: casino branded cards - Final game at Teddy KGB's: KEM cards.

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Goofs

The 6,7 and 10 cards in the last hand, change position between nearly every shot.

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Quotes

Mike McDermott: [Narrating while waiting in Jo's jeep for him to be released from prison] Worm's dad did the grounds, when he wasn't too fucking drunk, that's when we did them, of course the grounds weren't all we did, Worm put us into a scam a day on all the young aristocrats we went to school with, selling them dime bags of Oregano, nunchakus, or fire crackers from Chinatown, kept us in lunch money until the time we went from more than just pocket change and got caught we had the starting five take a dive ...

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Rounders/Kiki's Delivery Service/Simon Birch/Slums of Beverly Hills/Digging to China (1998)

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Soundtracks

Warm Valley
Written by Duke Ellington
Performed by Duke Ellington
Courtesy of Blue Note Records

User Reviews

This is NOT a Hold 'Em Tutorial

This film was unjustly panned as lethargic and bleak without a purpose. Considering how Hold 'Em has developed into one of the biggest social fads in the last decade, I would say that this film captures every emotional aspect the 'swings' of No Limit typically carry.

I had absolutely no idea how to play the game when I first saw this movie about five years ago. The dialogue is wrought with jargon that almost makes a mockery of itself. Especially since much of the movie is done with voice-over, I can see where critics are coming from. However, the viewer should not allow themselves to get bogged down with it all, we get the gist with well-developed staging and performances.

Damon and Norton play off each other better than Damon and Affleck. Though the story echoes in the wake of Scorsese's 'Mean Streets', the performances seem more detailed than the Keitel/DeNiro combo. The supporting roles add great depth to the film, and Tutorro shines as the wise-old has-been that successfully provides Damon's character with the cold-hard truth he never seems to adhere to (until it is too late).

Above all, we feel compelled to cheer for Damon's Mike McDermott the ENTIRE time. He acknowledges his 'bad' play but constantly tries to explain that this is a game of skill and not luck. This is an important element considering the widely accepted belief that any success in gambling is the result of luck. This may be true in the bloodsucking casinos, but in Hold 'Em you play the chips AND the man.

Now that baseball is out of the Olympics, perhaps we will see a push for a true "WORLD Series of Poker". Then again, I also wanted to see 'Four Square' made into an official event when I was 8, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass...

Should be commended as a precursor to a pandemic fad that is costing teens (and their parents) millions daily.

*** (of ****)