Rating: 
Summary: Not terrible, but this film is not for people with ADD.
Review: I rented this film recently, because I needed to kill some time and I am a big fan of Edward Norton. In the end, my overall opinion was that this is not a bad film. But I guess because I had other things on my mind, I don't think it was a great film either. To elaborate, I will say that I don't play poker. I never really have and I'm probably not going to any time soon. As such, a lot of the terminology was lost on me. I didn't get the rules of a lot of the games and I hardly got what a lot of the hands meant. Though I do think that if I could have payed a little better attention to the film, I could have gathered enough of it to make sense of it. Matt Damon's performance in the film is good, but it seems to me that he did this film to kill time until his next film. Edward Norton is also not bad, but it's not exactly something I would call an 'epic work' by him. In fact, the only performer that I really enjoyed in this film wasn't in it a lot: John Malkovich. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that this isn't a bad film. Worth the rent, but I think that I would have felt disappointed had I bought it.
Rating: 
Summary: Gambling Movie with a Difference
Review: Okay, there are plenty of movies out there about gamblers and there's probably nothing new or exciting about this one. However, what makes this one different is that it doesn't drammatise or over-emphasise the card games, whereby either the only hands that ever get dealt are always Royal Flush or Full Houses, or that the players seem to possess some unrealistic magical skills to get them. The movie is about how a law school student Mike (Matt Damon), who is also a professional card player, struggles to lead a "normal" life after his old friend Worm (Edward Norton) is released from the prison and kept bringing him more troubles to resolve (using his card-playing skills, naturally). Insights into the games demonstrate superbly how the real world of card players may not be as fun and glamorous as you may think (even when you win). Instead the suspense and excitment in the games are created from (backed by Damon's voiceover) how each player control his emotion and at the same time analyse his opponents' tactics, in an attempt to lead them into his traps. Of course, the movie is more than just about card games. Mike's desperate attempt to avoid going back to the tables and keeping his relationship with his girlfriend Jo (Gretchen Mol) is also well-plotted. This contributes greatly in showing that even a professional card player has to handle all the difficult situations in everyday life and not just the cards. If there is anything to nag about this movie, it would be the relationship between Mike and Jo, which could do with a touch more details to give a more in-depth view of their bond and hence Mike's struggle to stay on path. Other than that, this movie is highly recommended to anyone who's looking for a gambling movie with a dfference.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I enjoyed the Card games alot.but I've seen this Film Countless Times already.Edward Norton is a Good Actor.Matt Damon does alright here.but only the Games aside from Norton hold your attention.Everything else feels like Filler.John Malkovich gives a Solid Performance here as well.But it's Two Movies in one the Games Work everything else is Hit&Miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie
Review: what made this a great movie would be how they went about introducing many of the quotes
Rating:
Summary: Do you play poker?
Review: There are two types of people watching Rounders: those who play poker and those who don't. If you can identify in any way with Matt Damon in this movie, it's going to captivate you. If you're not a card player... you can probably forget it. Mike McDermott (Damon) is a professional poker player and a law school student, in that order. One night, in an attempt to raise the capital for a trip to Las vegas to play in the World Series of Poker, McDermott loses his whole bankroll, $30K, to the owner of his favorite underground card club, Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). The next day, he swears off cards, but we get the feeling he does so in order to keep his relationship with Jo (Gretchen Mol) alive. His resolve is shaken, and quickly detroyed, when his best friend growing up, Worm (Edward Norton), is released from prison, and McDermott soon finds himself back at the table. This movie succeeds on a number of levels, and surprisingly so. Of course, many of those levels have to do with cards, and if (as I said) you're not enchanted, or at least obsessed, with the non-luck aspects of any game of chance, it'll probably bore you stiff. But even if you're only a weekend (or rarer) player at the card table, the horse track, or the stock market, you'd do well to listen to Damon's voiceovers throughout the movie, which have loads of excellent information (and mirror things I've been telling novice horseplayers for years). Other than that, the insights into relationships, and the ways obsession can destroy them, are profound. Well, okay, maybe not profound, but handled with gobs more subtlety and wit than I've seen in just about forever. Mol isn't really onstage long enough to give her any real chemistry with Damon, but take it from me, the ways they react to one another throughout the film are dead on. More importantly, both to the plot and to the success of the movie, is the relationship between McDermott and Worm. Edward Norton proves once again he's one of Hollywood's true rising talents, and the deeper motivations that drive his character are exposed just well enough that we can see them. Not an easy task, and one sure to be uncovered if the actor doesn't understand those motivatins and the viewer does. The other main aspect of the film is the suspense during the actual card games. Another thing that's not easy to pull off, and often (most recently in the Gibson/Foster remake of Maverick) the director resorts to insane, next-to-impossible combinations of cards to make it work. (Remember the final game in Maverick?) In the first scene, when Teddy KGB nails McDermott, the winning hand is a full house. Welcome to the real world of poker, where oftentimes it's the guy holding the two pair that ends up forty grand richer at the end of the night. Dahl realizes, repeatedly, that it's not the cards in the hand that provide the action, it's the way the characters react to one another. One almost thinks that Dahl could have pulled this movie off by putting Damon, Norton, Malkovich (without the cheesy accent), John Turturro, and two or three of the other cardplayers around a table and shot two hours of one game.
Rating:
Summary: 'Rounders' makes a great shuffle
Review: " Vant Cookie?" John Malkovich as Teddy KGB What is a Rounder? According to Johnny Chan, World Poker Champion, a Rounder is a hustler. The truth is that although Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) is a law student in the powerhouse center of the New York legal community, his true passion is Cards. Despite the fact Poker has been paying for his education, the thrill of chance and the duplicity of the game is what keeps McDermott coming back for more. Playing with best of the best means going up against Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), an Oreo Cookie addict and merciless Czar of Gotham's Russian underworld. Between financial difficulties and trying to beat his gambling fixation, McDermott develops a thorn in his side when his friend Worm (Ed Norton) gets out of jail. Worm also has an appetite for "the game" and a very poor sense of judgement for cause and effect. When McDermott discovers Worm owes a hefty gambling debt to Teddy KGB, the two are stretched to the limit to find avenues out of their predicament. Since McDermott has somewhat of a sense of responsibility, he is able to consult with some of his fellow mentors. Professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau) the wise and sympathetic veteran of the law, not only has a special fatherly tie with McDermott, but in a firebrand speech, gives him the courage to attack the issues which each of us face at the crossroads our calling in life. After settling all debts, McDermott fulfills Petrovsky's prophecy about following one's decree, when in an astonishing and bold ending, he remains a rounder with the most grandiose of intentions. This picture is a journey in the art of carefully constructed deception and uninhibited plunges into the face of danger. The characters in this film are unquestionably unique and multi-faceted. Worm is uncontrollable and on a fast road to self-destruction. And so it is that he abruptly drops out of the picture and we never see what happens to him. A factor I found rather disappointing considering the fact he was one of the central metaphors of McDermott's dichotomy of life. Jo, portrayed by Gretchen Moll in a slightly downplayed role, is McDermott's other half, but even more important, she is his conscience and the best thing he could ever hope for in an honest love as well as the voice of the straight and narrow. John Turturro, although not having much screen time, is Joey Knish, another one of McDermott's shifty-eyed cohorts although he is more of a blister than a deep cut. John Malkovich is as usual a chameleon in his representation of an incontestably original character, composed of black humor and serene ruthlessness. Although I will say that at times, his attempt at a Russian accent lacks Stoli. Rounders is a story about balancing on a ledge and hoping the wrong wind doesn't blow. Rather than luck, the name of this game is destiny.
Rating:
Summary: Superb! Damon really knows good material.
Review: You can't buck your own nature. That's at the core of this film. Matt Damon's character is trying to lead a 'model' existence. Become a lawyer, have a traditional relationship, go to college... The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, in that regard, he's a card shark. Poker to be more exact. And like so many of us he has had a setback which forces him to question his ability, goals, and direction. But while making the effort to go a different way or play it straight he is brought back to himself by an old friend (Edward Norton aka Worm) who doesn't try to be anything other than what he is. Along the way Damon learns much about himself and others with regard to loyalty, dependability, guts, risk, character, and integrity. And particularly the price it is that we pay for them. A truly enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Summary: BE YOURSELF
Review: ROUNDERS is a deception to me. Not because it's a bad movie but because it could have been a much better one. John Dahl had it all : the subject, the city and the actors. In spite of that, ROUNDERS does not have any substance at all, it's an empty shell. A great-looking shell but empty. Take Worm's character for instance which made me think of the role Robert DeNiro played in Martin Scorsese's MEAN STREETS, it has no charism at all and strangely disappeared from the action when it could have become interesting. In fact, the problem lies in a very weak screenplay. Neverthess, well photographed, the movie has its good moments. John Malkovich's performance is as always stupendous and steals the show. But we are still far away from such works as Robert Rossen's THE HUSTLER ot Martin Scorsese's THE COLOUR OF MONEY, movies that are the references of the gambling genre. A DVD for KGB.
Rating:
Summary: ROUNDERS- AWESOME FLICK!
Review: For anyone who has any knowledge, and for some who don't, Rounders is an enjoyable film. Matt Damon is awesome in this movie! Adding to the cast are Edward Norton (Primal Fear), and John Malkovich (Need I mention his countless movies?). This movie flat-out makes me want to go win some money. The poker strategy is explained for those who don't know much of the game. The only way to describe this movie is TENSE! How they can make a poker movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat is beyond me but this movie does just that! Be prepared to want to go play some Poker after this one. Truly 5 Stars out of 5!
Rating:
Summary: Easier to go to Vegas and see the real thing.
Review: Movies about gamblers have always had incredible problems with authenticity. Although not the fodder of the 'GAFF SQUAD', card playing situations like those encountered in the brilliant "Cincinnati Kid" would never happen in real life circumstances. And those that really do happen are too subtle to be appreciated by the masses via the big screen. Real-life card players of any merit rarely have an option of law school (as the Matt Damon character does), and they don't have Gretchen Mol waiting at home for them, either. Of course authenticity is not necessarily a requirement for a good film. John Dahl does his best here with a weak script, a distant premise, and what is obviously a hastily thrown together star-vehicle for the hotter than hot Matt Damon. John Malkovich is brilliant as KGB, the Russian card parlor manager, and Damon's nemesis. Ed Norton does little with what little role he has as Damon's always in more trouble than he's worth, accomplice. If you look quickly you'll catch Melina Kanaredes. A partially redemptive arc does little more for this assembly of ill-fitting pieces than provide an opportunity for 'The End'. Maybe fun for those on the outside looking 'in' to the world card players, other than that, pass.
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