There is one thing I should say upfront: poker is certainly not one of my strongest games. This is partly due to my so-called poker face, which is far more reminiscent of Zero Mostel from “The Producers” than Amarillo Slim. What’s more, some of the key elements in the game, such as the ability to calculate accurately and the ability to comprehend the subtleties of people’s actions, aren’t exactly my strong points. Similar to chess, I do grasp the fundamental facts around the game, as well as the point of view of the player. But all the stuff that comes in between, the transitions such as the flops, the rivers, and others, are subjects that furthering my education on was unsuccessful throughout my years.
And yet, the movies did teach me some basic principles, for example, distinguishing good poker movies like “California Split” and “The Cincinnati Kid” from bad ones such as “Runner Runner” and “A Big Hand for the Little Lady”. The latest is “Dead Money”. As far as poker itself goes, I don’t know how accurate it is in portraying the game, but it fails where you would like so much more from a film: action, drama, or at least vivid personalities and plot twists. It is not an eventful film I wouldn’t call it a bad film, I’d call it a dull film that leaves you feeling disappointed.
The film begins at Jack’s house where he runs an illegal poker house in which Jack (David Keith) is the owner and a betting addict. The other players include professional gambler Andy (Emile Hirsch), his girlfriend, Chloe (India Eisley), who is training to be a doctor, and cop LT (Peter Facinelli) who is a little more than a rookie. The thrill of the game doesn’t last long, however, as a few intruders wearing masks walk in, punch Jack right on the nose, and take all the earnings away. Then every one of them leaves and switches off the light. But, while trying to return to Jack’s house in search of Chloe’s book bag, Andy finds out the shocking truth about the escape of dimwits Wendell (Jackie Earle Haley) and the seriously hurt uncle Lonnie (Rory Culkin) hired by Jack to rob him so he could make some money. Following the unintended video chat with Jack and Wendell managing Uncle Lonnie, Andy makes off with the cash and vanishes.
The following day, and with a cold streak behind him, Andy sees a glimpse of opportunity and intends to pay off his current debts and lie low. It sounded like the right plan, but fell apart when he went to make his payment attracting yet another game. However, this time, it only gets better for him. For the next few hours, it seems nothing can go wrong in this game as it gets a more intense hot streak where he eventually finds himself in an intense game hosted by Faizel (Jimmy Jean-Louis) and with Bobby Kirkland (Brennan Brown) in attendance. Filling up all of this, Jack and Wendell understand that Andy has seized the cash, hence they move into his residence in search of it, capturing Chloe as a hostage when she comes out of the blue. At the point when Jack understands that Andy is gone at Faizel’s, he arrives and says to Andy, who has a good chance that he kills $500,000 dollars in earnings or Chloe will be dead; a case that is made even more difficult when his luck runs out at an inopportune time.
You’re probably of the same opinion as me when I say that “Dead Money” is nothing more than “Rounders” meets Tarantino-infested crime films from the 90s. It has all the elements of overtly colorful language, complicated storylines, and characters that most of the time, are either holding a gun to someone’s head or bleeding from a fight that they didn’t win. The script from Josh Wilcox is brilliant when it comes to detailing the surface elements but, in terms of substance, barely does anything worth mentioning. Thus, we’re left with a group of morons doing moronic acts while giving detailed instructions on poker variations that they admire in a few moments.
The very poker games in the movies are not as far-fetched as the cock-eyed ones in a film called ‘Maverick’ though the very games played there are boring to watch in the cinematic version of Victorian melodrama since the director Luc Malpoth treats the content like the script, to be polished only on the surface and without any depth whatsoever. He never really builds up tension, not even when there are a lot of people involved with guns pointing to each other’s heads or lives are completely at risk.
The performers do not have the chance to develop their flat roles very much Hirsch is quite bland in the title role, Eisley spends the bulk of her bellyaching in the role of a mouth-bound and tape-sealed chair prisoner, while Keith, Haley, and Facinelli appear to be outdoing each other in deciding who will be the most “insane”. (Haley is my favorite, just for the fact that this time he is faster than the others explaining how he is going to spend all his profits: making a fighting club for cocks).
Ultimately, ‘Dead Money’ is hardly anything new; it actually provides a modern twist to the bygone B-movies. It is a typical meat and potatoes film with the least attention given to it, featuring the bottom half of a double bill. In terms of originality, unfortunately, it’s bland Chinese food. The spice missing from it would have made the audience appreciate it more. Maybe those who like poker think it does its job until they get Rounders 2: The Desolation of the Oreos. In other words, this movie will make you want to fold way too early before the film nears its conclusion.
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