Pluskylang Great Film overall

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Adam Rogers Great movie! Love the characters and the story. Great one liners

RealChristian14 Well,IMDb states that Rounders 2 is on development.Matt Damon have already stated numerous times that Rounders 2 is going to happen.He already said in an interview that he has talked to the writers about it and that the popularity of poker will definitely increase interest in it unlike when the prequel - Rounders - was released back in 1998.What was Rounders all about?Rounder is a 1998 film about a Law student named Mike McDermott who also happens to be a poker prodigy. It stars Damon and Edward Norton together with talented cast that includes John Turturro,Gretchen Mol,John Malkovich and the late Martin Landau.The film begins when Mike McDermott decides to change his gambling habits and decided to play in high stakes poker in the underworld casino that is connected to the Russian mob named Teddy KGB.He decided to gamble all his winnings - $30,000 - but unfortunately lost everything to the owner.This made him stop gambling and focus in finishing his Law degree and his relationship with his girlfriend Jo,who happens to be a fellow Law student.Then things change when his friend Lester "Worm" Murphy,played magnificently by Edward Norton, was released from prison.Their activities brought Mike back into poker and he definitely started to get his back life into it.With more time playing cards considering that Mike has vouched for Worm's gambling debt from loan sharks,Mike's passion for playing poker was definitely reignited to the point that he could no longer escape it. Then it came to a point that Jo broke up with him and he was no longer interested in pursuing Law School as he wanted to play in Vegas particularly the WSOP (World Series of Poker) at the conclusion of the film.No wonder that it definitely was a great film.I am aware that the story is definitely incomparable to other great films like "The Godfather" as its film was more about Mike and Worm's activities on card tables playing poker and how Mike regained his winnings from Teddy KGB which just gave the viewers a simple story.But what made it great are many other things.No question that the performances on the cast was great.Damon and Norton have given life to their characters as Mike and Worm respectively.They kept the movie going from the time they met until the time they were punched by the state troopers.The rest of the cast were also good enough like John Malkovich,who was a scene stealer as Teddy KGB,despite his awkward Russian accent; and the late Martin Landau,who played the Law Dean that pursued Mike not to escape from his identity.Another reason is poker.No question that the film revolved around poker particularly with Mike's experience in the card table from beginning to end.The viewer gets to learn more about the game as well as the familiar terms that are involved in it.It also tried to move poker away from gambling in a sense that it is a definitely a game of skills and not a game of luck.This was obviously was the central argument between Mike and Jo which ended their relationship.Aside from that,it was also presented that Mike's experience with Teddy KGB at the beginning when he lost and the end when he regained his winnings back.Finally,it also presented that poker is indeed worthy of one's time as it was presented in Mike and Worm's characters and their activities.No question that it never earned a lot of money - $22 million - when it was released back in 1998.Aside from the fact that both Matt Damon and Edward Norton aren't yet established actors when it was released,poker hasn't yet became popular unlike today with the many online poker sites existing in the internet.But when poker became popular,it became a cult poker film. I expect interest to be renewed in it after almost 20 years when it was released when Rounder 2 is about to be released in the theaters.

bamboojade-92247 I really loved this movie. Have the DVD and watch it every time it airs on the tube. If you are into Texas Hold Em, watch this movie. Really enjoyed the poker scenes; you get to see the entire hand play out when Mike plays KGB. Basically, good guy Mike is a poker hound and prides himself on reading players' "tells". He narrates his experience with playing poker, getting burned in a hand with KGB and losing everything. His BFF, Worm, also a poker hound, is getting paroled. Mike picks him up from prison because he owes Worm. Worm took a rap for him and ended up with the prison sentence; Mike is grateful that he has such a good friend. Problem is, Worm is exactly what his name means....a worm. His method of playing is cheating and he gets into trouble, a lot. Worm wants to get back into the action and making money; Mike is struggling to make his way through law school. Mike helps him find poker games. He goes out of his way for Worm, even vouching for him for his debts. In the end Worm lives up to his name and Mike gets screwed over. The boys crash the Friday night, state police poker night. Worm gets caught cheating, the guys get roughed up and kicked out; all their money gone. Mike finally lets Worm have it and sees him for what he is... a loser. Edward Norton is at his best when he plays slimy characters and he shines here. But since Mike vouched for Worm, he has to pay off his debt. He goes to KGB - Russian mafia - engages in an all nighter and wins money back to pay off Worm's debt. I do have a few annoyances with this film and although they sound significant, they in no way turn me off from it. 1) Why does Hollywood love jargon so much? The jargon in this film gets old after about 5 minutes, but we have to put up with it through the whole film. I seriously doubt the WPT players ever talk this. 2) Mike and Worm get the living daylights beat out of them at the state police game. Aside from a few scratches and some facial blood, they look great. Where's the swollen, black eye? The swollen, split lip? The contusions? The hematoma? Make up sucks in this film. 3) Final big scene - Mike is head to head with KGB. Mike needs to win at least "15 thou" to pay off Worm's debt and cover "the juice". Of course, he spots KGB's tell. He should have ignored it, he needs to win big time. But he calls KGB out. His narration indicates that he normally wouldn't so he could "bust him up all night, but he only has until morning". Stupid. If you need to win, you wouldn't expose a tell! 4) I don't like Counting Crows; lead singer's voice is whiny, melodies sound like adult nursery rhymes. Except for one song which is played during the credits. "Baby I'm a Big Star Now". Best song they ever did, great tune. However, it was never released. I have searched in vain, not a single, not on an album. Who in the world made that ridiculous business decision?

Lukas Heck This film was suggested to me in a podcast, so I thought I'd give it a shot.Didn't know anything about it, except for Matt Damon was in it and it is about Poker. Watched it on a Sunday afternoon, and that's why I enjoyed the film the way I did - It is smoothly told, very unagitated shot film with little (but intense) physical action and lot of action on the poker table. I consider myself an amateur, but I know the basics and I know the World Series- but I get that when this film was released, Texas Hold'em didn't enjoy the popularity it does today. In this sense, the director is right in explaining the ground rules of the game in the films first minutes. After that, we have a rather typical "must get x in short amount of time" kind of plot, but it very slowly unfolds. Actually, it really gets going 50 minutes in when the main character is left by his girlfriend. Some shots and scenes are too "slow" for modern cinema and show the age of the movie (was released 18 years ago). Also, some sub-plots seem important in the beginning, are completely dropped in the middle and are somewhat disconnected from the rest of the film (the whole lawyer-subplot felt rather unnecessary in it's extent). The main character wants to pursue a career playing poker? OK, that's fine but we never get to know that before he actually makes this decision - in the beginning. poker is made up to be a means of earning money for the guy. In the end, we learn that he played Johnny Chan and won one single hand - that is his main motivation for his new career? Somewhat implausible!In the end, still very enjoyable and is able to transport the feelings and anxieties during a poker match very well7/10