ROUNDERS: A ROYAL FLUSH!

  You know how, every once in awhile, you come across a movie that you never heard of.  Then you watch it and wonder how in the heck you never heard of it?  Well, Rounders is just such a movie! 
  Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) has walked away from poker after losing big money.  He’s a really good player but got in over his head and paid a huge price and is now deeply mired in debt while trying to put himself through law school.  As Mike is getting his life back on track, his old friend “Worm” (played by Ed Norton) is let out of prison.  It doesn’t take long for the old partnership of Worm and Mike to start making back their money.  But Mike also has long term aspirations: to beat the man who caused him all the grief in the first place:  Teddy KGB (John Malkovich).  It is a terrific performance by Malkovich, despite the fact the Russian accent is terrible.  In fact, this movie has great performances all around.  The games these guys get into aren’t exactly penny ante!  It’s a great example that there is SO much more to winning poker than just drawing a good hand.  It’s as much of a mind game as anything else, and Damon’s character plays it perfectly.  This is a movie well worth spending a couple of hours watching. 

8.5 out of 10