imdb2-5

This was a pretty stupid film from beginning to end. Like most people, I'm sure you got sucked in by the big names and actors that appear, which is the only reason why it's not a complete zero. Betting and gambling doesn't work the way it does in this film. This predictable tale of the rise and fall breaks all the odds and only happens in places like hollywood.

It has the audacity to also try to masquerade as if it's some sort of gamblers anonymous insight, which it isn't. Just saying that people have a gambling habit understates the nature of the issue and this film certainly minimizes it for the sake of its hollow story. Oh how touching it is. Not.

What starts out promising ends up ludicrous. It's as if the writer wanted to come up with a really clever twist and then went to Hollywood to just fill in the rest. There was not a moment that anyone would believe what happens to our film's protagonist. Nor is it credible how the film continues from there, which is just an example of Hollywood done badly.

The last half hour was ridiculous. There's a reason this film typically panned by critics, except for a couple of reviewers here who are enamored of this farce. A marvelous double twist that has plot holes the size of Texas and the very ending which pretends as if everything provided thus far can somehow be disposed. Don't bother or skip to the end if you're streaming.

Superb cast wasted for a film that didn't need to be remade and had a high bar to surpass given the classic original. The style, humor, and cleverness of the original is all gone. Someone thought adding better special effects would be enough, paying homage repeatedly to the original without much context. Unfortunately all of this ends up being much worse, because the clever subplots and situations are completely lost in this film, which is routine b-grade action with a big budget. The script feels completely synthetic and lacks credibility often. See the original and don't look at this trash.