movie review - Rounders
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Toronto, 1998.09.28
This is a movie about a law student who is dragged back into the underground gambling scene when a friend gets out of prison. Threatened by the same gangster who ruined him the first time, our hero (or the nearest we get, in this thing) gets wholly consumed and soon finds himself in serious danger. But he prevails. That's the story. I can't get into these man-in-a-hole stories when the character clearly makes high-stakes decisions badly on flimsy rationales. If you're going to do man-in-a-hole at least have a femme fatale, that's why they were invented. The first thing this guy does is chase off his live-in girlfriend. Ehhh.
Not recommended.