MovieChat Forums > Mississippi Grind (2015) Discussion > Two hours of my life I'll never get back

Two hours of my life I'll never get back


I'm a poker player so I enjoy serious movies about poker. Was expecting a cerebral film about some serious poker players. This movie is about degenerate compulsive gamblers and alcoholics. There is nothing interesting about these guys, no talent, genius, and definitely no professionalism when it comes to their gambling. There is no character development either. In fact if anything this movie is a degenerate gamblers dream. (Eventually I've got to hit a streak of luck). It does show the consequences of making bad gambling decisions. But the mistakes never seem to change the characters for the better..

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What the fck are you talking about??



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I wrote in plain English. Bad movie, bad messages, uninspired effort

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Yup, this movie was terrible. I'm also a poker player and I was very disappointed in this piece of trash. I hated the characters and nothing interesting happened...I wanted to slit my wrists 30 minutes in.

"Being human in a world full of vampires is about as safe as barebacking a five dollar whore."

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Machu Picchu time, bro. Learn to appreciate that. 


When I'm gone I would like something to be named after me. A psychiatric disorder, for example.

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The poker scences were few and far between, but they were by far the best I have ever seen in a movie. Poker in movies, for a real poker player, has always been horribly portrayed. It's understandable because poker is boring. very boring. And I love poker. For movies they need to overly dramatize it. On most films it seems like the minimalist amount of research could give you something true poker players could appreciate. A realistic hand. Yet they never do. Yet in this movie they have a guy flop top pair with a *beep* kicker and the second nut flush draw. Right there is hand that is ussualy too complicated to show in a movie. But they do. He is betting it hard and has some one calling him all the way. He whiffs his flush, the guy goes all in. He has a tough call to make but goes with his read. That is a type of hand they never show in movies. Most non poker players wouldn't even get it. They would just think yeah top pair ofcourse call. The way they did in this movie was perfect. They didn't overly dramatize it. If you didn't know much about poker it didn't mater. You got the gist because they didn't focus on the hands as much as they did the players. Overall this was the first time I have ever seen a movie where the poker felt genuine to the game. I dare anyone to provide a better example.

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That said, this isn't a poker movie. (Which is probably why they could show some real poker). It's much deeper than that. (Or not) but I enjoyed the degeneracy and the mystery they left open about who these people really were. Understandable if others didn't.

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Casino Royale and Rounders had very good poker scenes. This wasn't really a poker movie but really a film about compulsive gamblers. Its cool you enjoyed it. Just wasn't what I expected.

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Casino Royale had AWFUL poker scenes! TOTALLY unrealistic. Rounders is the penultimate poker movie, but even that has OBVIOUS inauthentic moves/plays.

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Seriously? This movie is a brilliant character study. It is about people's motivations, their patterns of behavior, what makes them happy and what doesn't. If you want a movie about playing poker then you might want to look for a documentary or a video guide to poker. This is a terrific movie that is incredibly insightful about how real human beings are in the world.

It's too bad you didn't get it. The brutal tragedy of the scene when Gerry has gotten what he thought he wanted and realizes it doesn't make him happy at all, the empty look as he looks out the window, is just remarkable.

This kind of movie is supposed to make you ask yourself questions after the credits roll. It isn't just some empty, dumb gambling comedy made for guys with high roller fantasies.

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Can't you come up with a better cliche Mr Bonehead?

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I find this thread ironic. Like a "poker player" hasn't spent many hours of their life that they can't get back. I'm not loving this movie, but find it funny a person that can sit for hours at a poker table feels the need to complain about the time the spent watching it.

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Well, without reading any others responses, I will say this. Before watching this movie, I assumed it was a "Guy Road Trip Gambling Flick with some type of supernatural element to it" or some *beep* I never took this as a "serious" poker movie.

I myself was at one time a pretty heavy poker player and get pissy when I see movies that have chips with no denominations in a casino, playing out of turn, splashing the pot and players pushing their entire stack into the pot going "All In" James Bond in Casino Royale for instance, when he pushes his entire stacks in, is the most unrealistic part of the movie! That's amazing, considering all the other "stunts", chases, saving himself with a defibrillator and two guys in a 15 minute flat out run, jumping over objects, climbing cranes and being hardly winded, etc, etc. Yet, that moment is the one I guffawed over.

Annnnnyyyyyyway. I thought this was a great movie, I HATE watching "dramas" where players (usually degenerates) continue to lose, lose, lose and that makes it SOOOOO "Dramatic". So, seeing the ending to this, which I thought was going a COMPLETELY different way, I was happy.

And oh yeah....Ryan Reynolds is DREAMY!

Signed,
A man who is manly enough to appreciate another mans good looks. ;)

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Totally agree with you.
This movie has no entertainment value, and no social redeeming value, either, LOL.
There is no drama, no suspense, no intelligence, no memorable dialog, no humour - all in all a flat, dreary and wretched script. What a waste of talents from the cast.

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