Round of Applause

Whenever I head out on a trip to Las Vegas, I'll often try to make time for some appropriately themed movie before I go. It's not really superstition or anything; I just like the idea of "setting the mood" for the trip. I've watched Ocean's Eleven (the remake, not the mind-numbing original), Swingers, plenty of others.

This trip, I watched one of my favorite movies, Rounders. Though not a single frame of the movie is actually set in Las Vegas, the poker theme is certainly appropriate. I can think of no other movie that treats poker more authentically than this one. In almost every hand, players behave intelligently. The hands make sense, and you can even apply real life poker skills to "reading" them before they're revealed if you've never seen the movie before. Plenty of real terminology is used, sometimes explained, sometimes not. There's just a true love of the game at the heart of this movie, something I never see in other poker films and TV that feature irrational behavior, string-betting, dumb luck, and more.

If Rounders were only about that, I'd probably still like it. But what makes it a truly great film to me is that this is only one small piece of the whole. Maybe even the smallest one. The film is really about a simple message: "you are who you are; you can't be any other way." We see it in the protagonist, who tries to suppress his poker-playing skills in favor of a more "respectful" career as a lawyer. We see it on the other end of the spectrum in his best friend, a world-class screw up who drags both of them down with his impulsive behavior.

I might be trumping this film up to be more important than it actually is, but I find this "moral" helpful to be reminded of every so often, whether by watching this film or by some other means. Be who you are; don't try to be something you're not. I find this more inspiring than the specifics of watching a young man possibly on the path to winning big at poker.

I suspect that the actors involved were really on board with this deeper meaning beneath the poker trappings too. Otherwise, I can't easily explain why so many phenomenally talented performers wound up in the same fairly obscure, comparatively low-budget movie.

You've got Matt Damon in the lead role, fresh off his Good Will Hunting Oscar win and suddenly a hot commodity in Hollywood. He's sympathetic and charming, and deftly handles the abundant voice-over narration in the film. (Something few actors can do well.)

Ed Norton plays his trouble-making buddy, and effectively makes you want to reach into the screen and choke the crap out of him even more than you want to cheer him on in any film where he plays the hero.

John Turturro is a Yoda-like mentor to Damon's impetuous Luke, calm and cool, and a major force in the film despite limited screen time. Especially effective is a climactic scene in which he dresses down our hero quite thoroughly while never raising his voice.

John Malkovich is absolutely brilliant as the villain that bookends the movie. It's an over-the-top performance for sure, with a borderline mockable accent and silly mannerisms. But the laughs are intentional, and the menace is evident.

Famke Janssen is a sultry presence in the film, arguably not necessary to tell the story, but a welcome and memorable character nonetheless that adds another texture to the whole.

Gretchen Mol's character is the one weak link in the film, though I don't lay the blame on her. She's saddled with playing an unsympathetic character (both in how she treats the main character, and how the audience will see her). It's unfortunate that this admittedly boys' club of a movie can't have this girlfriend character be strong without coming off as, essentially, a "bitch."

Then there's Martin Landau, who might just be my favorite of all in this movie. His character, a professor at the protagonist's law school, delivers the all-important speech in the heart of the movie that expresses the heart of the movie -- that message I'm so keen on. It's a gifted and moving delivery and, even more than Malkovich's wild performance, makes the movie for me every time I watch it.

In short, Rounders is an A in my book. I can't ever watch it as a non-gamer, a non-poker enthusiast, but I'd like to think it would resonate with me anyway. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.