Watched it last night and enjoyed it overall. We can all probably relate to the last hand in the poker scene.

The one part I had a question about that hopefully someone can answer is the whole Basketball scene with Reynolds after he gets the horse racing score and has split up from Mendelsson.

What is the purpose of including that scene in the movie? Also why didn't he just give the guy $100 when he lost?. In real life he would be dead. Any thoughts about that scene from others that watched the movie?

I found that a little bit puzzling as well and here was my take on it:

I think he did that to punish himself because he felt remorseful for lying to Jerry about betting on the winning horse. He felt guilty for betraying his friend and in his eyes receiving that beat-down would be a fair punishment, and after receiving it justice would be restored, and he could move on.

If you look back at the bathroom scene a little bit earlier, where he sets up Jerry to get beat-up by the frat boys, I think he did that because he felt like that would be an appropriate punishment for Jerry being out of line and attempting to steal from his ex-wife.

I think that Reynold's character has a moral compass, but he believes that bad behavior can be redeemed through physical punishment and then quickly forgotten about after the 'dues' are paid.

just my $0.02

Wow, whether that is what the movie was trying to portray or not that is an awesome analysis. That narrative does fit and make sense. Thanks!

The other funny thing about the movie is that I noticed Randall Emmett is one of the producers. He has been playing a lot in the big games on Live at the Bike lately and was the guy who came to this year's WSOP main event with a marching band and girls who were giving out ice cream bars. I'm sure some of the degening was from his own experiences based on how he splashes around on LATB.

Saw the movie last night on Netflix and it was enjoyable. Somewhere between Rounders and Lucky You.

I agree with Muckits take, that's exactly what I thought too.

This was just ok for me. Some cringe-worthy poker scenes and writing. BM was solid though. I really like him.

Nice. Will definitely check it out.

Makes the lawn mower and missing toe dialogue make more sense.

Kinda coincidental to see this thread. Yesterday i rabdomly typed poker into netflix abd that was the 2nd thing to pop up. Surprisingly entertaining movie. Well acted all around. Fairly realistic poker scenes comparatively to a lot of other movies with poker scenes.


The part regarding why reynolds is beat up ... Or allows himself to get beat up .... He made the bet with the gerry's money (from the car) lied to him and gave him 100 instead of splitting the winnings as had been agreed to .. Regardless of his intentions when having done so, reynolds now realizes that he has done to some degree exactly what gerry did.

I thought it was just okay. Ben Mendelsohn's character was both written and acted well. Ryan Reynolds character was so over the top...i know it's fiction but god damn. Was this what it took to sell him on taking the part? You're going to play the roll of the most interesting man in the world...



(i'm not even bagging on Ryan Reynolds. I really haven't seen any of his movies. maybe just Adventureland...)