Rounders
John Dahl’s “Rounders” was my first real introduction to Texas Hold ‘Em, although I’d been playing cards with the family for years. Poker, Euchre, Blackjack, even Solitaire. It was a bonding experience, a pastime. Sadly, after my grandfather died in 2000, we got out of the habit of doing it. It’s not as much fun with only three people.
Cards are central to “Rounders,” but ultimately, friendship and addiction are the dark heart of this noir-driven drama. Dahl and actors Matt Damon and Edward Norton play David Levien and Brian Koppelman’s script like old pros at a table of suckers. But when Damon’s Mike goes out to pick up Norton’s Worm from prison, the film draws us into the spiral that Mike’s life will become when his past catches up with him, and draws him back into the life.
When Dahl hit the scene in 1994 with duel Sundance successes “Red Rock West” and “The Last Seduction,” it seemed as though a new master of suspense and drama. Sixteen years later, he’s become a craftsman on television (namely on shows like “Dexter” and “Californication”) with few features to his credit, but the ones he has made (including “Joy Ride,” “You Kill Me” and “The Great Raid”) have been well-received by audiences and critics.
Mike McDermott (Damon) had a good life going. He was playing his way through law school, and had gotten his bank roll up to 30 grand. He goes into an all-in game of Texas Hold ‘Em with Russian mobster Teddy KGB (John Malkovich)…and loses. He loses his money, but also his girlfriend’s trust. It takes months for him to recover, as he’s working a truck for card sharp and working man Joey Knish (John Turturro), and putting his life back together with girlfriend Jo (Gretchen Mol) without cards. But when he goes to pick up his friend Worm (Norton) from prison, he gets that itch again, and some harmless games become a fight for survival when they have to come up with 25k to pay off Worm’s debts.
Dahl and an expert cast brings the dark underbelly to this film to light in a way that is both wickedly funny, oddly poignant, and quite entertaining, with narration that puts us in the mind of a rounder who’s lost it all, and yet finds his way back into the fold when a past friendship comes back into his life. Unfortunately, that means the life he was building for himself is crashing down around him as a result, leading to mistrust and missed opportunities. But like his professor (the fine Martin Landau) tells him, “We can’t run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.” And when Mike finds himself sitting down with Teddy KGB again at the end- his past failure seeming primed to determine his unsure future- we know exactly that it’s where he’s supposed to be.
“Rounders” is hardly a classic, but it is a fun trip down the rabbit hole of “professional” gambling for anyone who thought they knew how to play cards. Watch this film one, and you’ll realize you don’t know anything at all.
