Rounders

At the beginning of John Dahl's Rounders, Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) describes a "grinder" as someone who just plugs away at small bets, never goes for the big score, and does a little better than break even. That's not a bad description of the movie, either. Played by Damon in his already trademark nice-kid mode that at times comes close to his character in The Rainmaker, Mike is a professional gambler turned law student who blows all his money, tuition included, on one bet in a card game with neighborhood Russian mobster "KGB" (John Malkovich, utterly out of control, sporting a Boris Badenov accent and an Oreo cookie fetish). Under the watchful eye of his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol, serving here as a simple nag), he quits the game -- until he's lured back in by his pal Worm (a wormy Ed Norton), who's fresh out of prison with a passel of bad debts. Although the gamblers' patois sounds hip ("rounders" = professional gamblers) and Norton and Damon spark some catchy badinage, the film has no momentum or heart -- Damon might as well have stamp collecting as a hobby for all the conviction he brings to his compulsion. For a portrayal of the dark desperation of the gambling addiction, rent Robert Altman's California Split. Rounders plays like a unfilled straight.

-- Peter Keough