Rounders (1998)

64% of critics liked it
(78 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(73,353 ratings)

John Dahl directed this exploration of New York private clubs devoted to high-stakes poker, with first-person narration from the film's central figure, law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), who loses his entire savings to Russian club owner Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). Mike then turns away from… More John Dahl directed this exploration of New York private clubs devoted to high-stakes poker, with first-person narration from the film's central figure, law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), who loses his entire savings to Russian club owner Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). Mike then turns away from cards, devoting his attentions to his law studies and his live-in girlfriend Jo (Gretchen Mol), who's concerned when Mike's former gambling buddy Worm (Edward Norton) is released from prison. She has good reason to worry, since it takes Worm only a matter of minutes to draw Mike back into poker action. When she learns Mike has returned to the poker clubs, she moves out, and Mike begins to lose interest in his studies. Worm has a pre-prison debt, and the threatening Grama (Michael Rispoli) wants the money. Mike not only indulges the irresponsible Worm, he gets involved in Worm's debts. When Grama demands $15,000 on a five-day deadline, the two buddies go into high gear with a non-stop, no-sleep gambling binge that spirals downward toward an ultimate confrontation with Teddy KGB. Darkened club interiors and New York nights are captured by the cinematography of Jean Yves Escoffier, who moved from French films (the 1991 Les Amants du Pont Neuf) to American movies with the reflective surfaces of Excess Baggage (1997) and the patina of pathos found in Harmony Korine's experimental Gummo (1997). Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival and the 1998 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 5 min.
Directed By: John Dahl
Written By: David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Sep 11, 1998 Wide
On DVD: Jul 3, 2001
Studio: Miramax

Critic Reviews

Rita Kempley, Washington Post
The wholesome pup's poker face alone, however, hardly accounts for the film's failure to thrill. Damon's character doesn't really have that much stake in the story's outcome.
Todd McCarthy, Variety
Intermittently engaging but dramatically slack.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Gretchen Mol, Edward Norton, John Turturro, Martin Landau, and Famke Janssen costar; they're all pretty good, but not good enough to make this 1998 feature worth seeing.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Though it's a good-looking flick with some smart acting and a few flashy runs, it barely breaks even dramatically, and feels, overall, like a good chance wasted.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
In fighting to show the psychological complexities in Mike that the script ignores, Damon plays it like a rounder instead of a grinder. This kid still has surprises up his sleeve.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Though Damon is an actor who's flatly impossible not to root for, the longer this film lasts the less patience we have to stay with him.
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Although featuring a splendid Edward Norton performance, 'Rounders' comes across as too unbelievable, often straying beyond the bounds of rationality.
Jon Fortgang, Film4
John Dahl creates an intelligent and character-driven crime-drama built around solid performances by Damon and Norton.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This ode to the allure of clipping suckers and psyching out the competition is richly atmospheric but thin in the character department.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
In his first non-noir film, John Dahl, assisted by the great French lenser Jean-Yves Escoffier, gives New York's underground gambling scene a vivid atmopshere, with special attention to its particular rituals and fast macho talk.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
"Rounders" makes you feel the suspense and thrive in the thrill of the moment, always coming up aces.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
The end result is still short of a winning hand, since the screenplay is so utterly predictable.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Other directors simply pay homage to film noir and their movies come across as copies or throwbacks, but Dahl's movies work because he seems to understand the inner workings of film noir, and the absurd situations that people can get into.
Ron Wells, Film Threat
It's too bad with all of the poker action there wasn't enough time to establish the relationships between characters.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
It's a likable movie and a solid follow up for Damon.
Bradley Null, Filmcritic.com
The fact that I was so motivated by the movie to put all that money on the table speaks positively of the picture.
Dragan Antulov, rec.arts.movies.reviews
[Provides] a lot of entertainment as well as some food for thought.
Todd Gilchrist, FilmStew.com
I've always thought Rounders was a near-perfect movie. Watching the Special Edition DVD confirmed that and, in fact, may even have upgraded my opinion.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Melvin W

Mike McDermott: It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money. "In The Game Of Life... Play The Hands You're Dealt." Too be completely honest there was really no way I was not going to like this. Matt Damon and two of my favorite actors, Edward Norton and John… More
Mike McDermott: It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money. "In The Game Of Life... Play The Hands You're Dealt." Too be completely honest there was really no way I was not going to like this. Matt Damon and two of my favorite actors, Edward Norton and John Malkovich in a Poker movie. That's pretty cool and the movie turns out to be just as cool as I thought it would. It probably helps if you're a fan and player of poker. I enjoyed the film because I knew what the acts were saying, but if I didn't understand the logic of the games I probably would have had a hard time liking it. So keep that in mind if you aren't in the know when it comes to poker. Matt Damon plays a straight playing and very talented poker player. He can tell what you have as soon as you look at your cards. Edward Norton plays a schemer who always finds himself in trouble. Then you got John Turturro who plays a Grinder. He wins just enough to get by and never takes too big a risk. Malkovich plays a big shot Russian who owns his own club. Gretchen Mol is very good and easy on the eyes as the girlfriend Mike. The story is engaging and it's incredibly fun to watch Norton and Damon onscreen together. The poker scenes are surprisingly entertaining. After the first part of the movie, it's pretty obvious what is going to happen though. We know who Damon is going to be in the last showdown with. But it all still works effectively because Damon gives an amazing performance. The movie easily could have been dull and boring, and might be to people who don't know anything about poker. But for those who do, the movie is extremely watchable and easy to like.
Shawn E

A shallow film with some good characters but leaves nothing memorable.
danny d

a unique plot, an excellent script, and picture perfect performances make this an excellent and underrated film. fits in nicely with films like 'the hustler' in a semi sports sub genre.
familiar s

After losing almost everything, Mike (Matt Damon) decides never to gamble again and leads a satisfied life with his girlfriend until he is re-united with his childhood mate Worm (Edward Norton) after his release from prison. Mike feels slightly obliged to Worm since he prefers… More
After losing almost everything, Mike (Matt Damon) decides never to gamble again and leads a satisfied life with his girlfriend until he is re-united with his childhood mate Worm (Edward Norton) after his release from prison. Mike feels slightly obliged to Worm since he prefers imprisonment to rating out Mike's name. Being attracted back to gambling, Mike ultimately ends up losing his girlfriend whom he'd promised not to gamble again. Besides, he couldn't pursue his career in law adequately. The two friends get together and are out to sweep the town so as to repay a debt, but things don't go exactly as they'd planned. I was surprised when I came to know that they're making a sequel to this. This movie itself was hardly interesting. The screenplay sucked and Edward Norton's character was not properly developed. Hope they won't repeat the same mistakes in the sequel.
Albert K

can't help but to enjoy this movie. I absolutely loved john malkovich's role in the movie. plus, this movie didn't have ridiculous monster hands like the ones in casino royale. nothing more but just an enjoyable movie. I highly recommend it
Lorenzo v

"We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us." A young man (Damon) is a reformed gambler who must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. <center>"We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us." A young man (Damon) is a reformed gambler who must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks. <center>REVIEW</center> Mike McDermott is a crackerjack gambler who has reformed his ways, and finally broken his lifelong gambling addiction. He's a promising law student who's destined to do great things, but it doesn't last when an old friend and gambling addict of his (Norton) is released from prison, only to resume his reckless ways and draw him back into the high stakes. Smart, intriguing story with hip dialogue and colorful characters played to perfection by an excellent cast. The target audience is obviously those who love to gamble, but there's enough twists and surprises to satisfy a few others as well. Malkovich makes the most of his interesting supporting role as a slick Russian gangster.
Mark W

Director John Dahl done a couple of great modern noir films in the 90's that shamefully went unrecognised (Red Rock West & The Last Seduction) but finally he got some attention with this film, thanks to a fine cast. Mike (Matt Damon) is a law student who happens to be more… More
Director John Dahl done a couple of great modern noir films in the 90's that shamefully went unrecognised (Red Rock West & The Last Seduction) but finally he got some attention with this film, thanks to a fine cast. Mike (Matt Damon) is a law student who happens to be more interested in playing poker. He has the skills but stupidly lost all his money to Russian gangster "Teddy KGB" (John Malkovich) and is now on the straight and narrow and has promised his girlfriend that he's finished with that life. That is until his long time friend and poker partner "Worm" (Edward Norton) is released from prison. "Worm" owes money all over town and the ever loyal Mike is drawn back into the game and back into the life he doesn't need or want. The story is formulaic and has been covered many times before but what really makes the film worthwhile are some great performances. Damon is reliable as always with nice supporting roles for John Turturro and Martin Landau. However, the film does tend to sag a little but really kicks back into gear whenever Edward Norton appears onscreen. He is absolutely superb as the aptly named "Worm", a detestable slimeball of a character, who causes more hassle than he's worth. Worth seeing for Norton's performance alone.
Anthony L

A bit over rated this film. It was ok but nothing special. Everyone did well apart from Malkovich who stank to high heaven, he should wipe it off his CV!
Josh L

A predictable, but entertaining film with a great cast and solid performances.
Daniel P

This was very disappointing. Matt Damon was flat, and though Ed Norton was good, he couldn't save it. Complete waste of talent: John Turturro and John Malkovich also fell victim to this awful script. The main question is this: does the main character have a gambling addiction, or… More
This was very disappointing. Matt Damon was flat, and though Ed Norton was good, he couldn't save it. Complete waste of talent: John Turturro and John Malkovich also fell victim to this awful script. The main question is this: does the main character have a gambling addiction, or is this a game of skill at which he's talented? Unfortunately, not even the writer seems to care.
Lady D

I was slightly disappointed at this film, given that it was a good cast, particularly as Ed Norton was part of that cast. There was really no excitement throughout, when you compare it to such films as Lock, Stock.. which had relatively short couple of scenes playing poker, it was… More
I was slightly disappointed at this film, given that it was a good cast, particularly as Ed Norton was part of that cast. There was really no excitement throughout, when you compare it to such films as Lock, Stock.. which had relatively short couple of scenes playing poker, it was transformed to a viewer in a way that made you feel the emotions of the roller coaster ride the characters were taking and yet this film never managed to get anywhere near that. I was certainly expecting a little more razzle dazzle.
Dan S

A pretty fun and solid movie. Damon and Norton complement each other perfectly and the movie manages to be interesting despite dealing with a rather unexciting sport.
Tsubaki S

Not bad at all, Norton should get more roles like this one.
Megan S

pretty boring
Curtis L

What a snoozer. Got about half way through and wanted to die. So the movie died instead.
Luke B

Dull, boring, sub-par acting from what should be a world class cast. I was begging this film to end but it just kept on going. I can only hope that I never have to see this one again.
Mike S

A must-see for poker-lovers :-)
Aaron N

Teddy KGB: It hurts doesn't it? Your hopes dashed, your dreams down the toilet. And your fate is sitting right besides you. If your a fan of Poker, Ed Norton, Matt Damon, Poolhall Junkies, or small supporting roles from John Turturro, you'll probably like this movie.… More
Teddy KGB: It hurts doesn't it? Your hopes dashed, your dreams down the toilet. And your fate is sitting right besides you. If your a fan of Poker, Ed Norton, Matt Damon, Poolhall Junkies, or small supporting roles from John Turturro, you'll probably like this movie. Nothing particularly special about this movie, but it's fun, and has a lot of good actors in it. Worm: She's really got him by the balls. Petra: That's not so bad, is it? Worm: It depends on the grip!
Jason S

A poker movie. It's pretty good but a little silly at times.
Michael G

Edward Norton back when he used to steal the show.