Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Professional gambler picks up a drifter and shows him the ropes.
Biased, pithy comments: This a good with a caveat---it's a first film and as such it's a little rough around the edges. Still, with a fantastic performance by Philip Baker Hall and some dangerous energy from Samuel L. Jackson, this is a movie with crisp dialog and good acting, though it does occasionally suffer from, ``Why are we making a movie about people who are so monumentally stupid?'' The stupidity is sadly entirely believeable, so if you're in for a slow, measured ride into the world of gambling, you might like this movie. I did.
Other Notes: ``We rented this Steadi-Cam, we're darn well going to use it!''
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Baker Hall
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson