Let me begin with the fact that I have been gambling since I was about 13 (I'm 44) and have been exposed to anything and everything in the world of sports and more to the point, sports gambling. I've also been an actor for 10 years. That being said, I went into this movie with modest expectations but nevertheless an open mind. Well, this movie was what I expected. I wanted to like it, I really did, but this movie was terrible and if you didn't know anything about sports 'touts' you would have thought it was even worse. Al Pacino is the somewhat sleazy 'Jim Feist' like tout and Matthew McConaughey plays the part of the ex-football player turned game picking prodigy. McConaughey is recruited by Pacino to work for him and promptly goes 9-2 and 12-0 and 8-2 and so on. To make a long story short, at the end when things turn sour he goes 2-11 and 1-9. Never an in-between. To summarize, this is a poor man's "Boiler Room" and even steals the cliche where the client who is raking in the profits in the beginning, loses everything in the end and calls crying to McConaughey about how he ruined his life and he lost everything and he was going to be married...
Boiler Room did it all so much better. This movie had no real plot and other than Pacino and McConaughey, there was no other character development nor any other sub-plots. I could give you plenty more wrong with this movie but don't want to give away too much (that is if you still want to see it). On a positive note though, McConaughey gave a pretty darn good performance and seemed like a guy who had played sports (in both senses of the word). Never thought I'd say this, but you'd be better off saving the money for tickets and popcorn and spending it on Jim Feist's 'Monday Night Madness' bailout play or whatever the hell he calls it. Ok, on second thought maybe not.
Boiler Room did it all so much better. This movie had no real plot and other than Pacino and McConaughey, there was no other character development nor any other sub-plots. I could give you plenty more wrong with this movie but don't want to give away too much (that is if you still want to see it). On a positive note though, McConaughey gave a pretty darn good performance and seemed like a guy who had played sports (in both senses of the word). Never thought I'd say this, but you'd be better off saving the money for tickets and popcorn and spending it on Jim Feist's 'Monday Night Madness' bailout play or whatever the hell he calls it. Ok, on second thought maybe not.
