MovieChat Forums > Mississippi Grind (2015) Discussion > Question about Reynolds character

Question about Reynolds character

posted 9 years ago by NelsonVanAlden
4 replies | jump to latest

Spoilers!!!!!!!

So, when Curtis (Reynolds) ended up betting on the dog Mississippi Grind and winning, why do you think he didn't tell Gerry (Mendehlson)? Was he trying to teach him a lesson? Was he planning on conning him from the beginning? I still didn't quite understand that aspect.

Also, the story Curtis told the whole film about Roundtree and the big poker game, when Gerry went to his house at the end and told the guy he was friends with him and got punched, why do you think that is? Did Reynolds lie about who he was? Did he actually owe people money? Was he a failure just like Gerry?

And finally, it was a bit sad that Gerry took his past of the money and wrote the letter saying goodbye. Like their friendship was over. Pretty sad, because they both helped each other out. Just felt a sense of sadness there.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (36957384) 9 years ago

1) I'm not sure but I think he thought he had to end it with Gerry. And as long as they had money, Gerry would continue to gamble it away. But he hated himself for it because he wanted to get beaten up by those guys he played ball with.

2) I imagine Roundtree was someone Curtis owed money to. He said he didn't care about winning. What he liked about gambling was meeting the people so I suppose he told tall tales to entertain but it's probably more complicated than that.

3) I felt sad through the whole thing. I doubt if Gerry got out of town without losing everything he'd won. He looked sad after winning because it didn't really solve his problem and it didn't even feel good just like the steak didn't taste good to him. He had to go back to the hamburger like I fear he had to go back to gambling.

[–] shellebelle2 9 years ago

I'd like to know if Reynolds' nose was really broken....if not, it looked super realistic!

[–] nybigapple 9 years ago

Some good points. My thoughts:

1) He kept giving Gerry second chances. Gerry kept going deeper and deeper. When Gerry thought they lost and went straight to bet the last 200 Reynolds had enough. He lost faith.

2)Roundtree was obviously not who Gerry made him out to be. Does that look like the house of someone who hosts 25,000 buy in poker games and owns a tiger? He had a security gate, which means he lives in poorer more dangerous area. There was one conversation that stuck out between Curtis and Sienna Miller about "who's this one?" "What do you want?" They mentioned the last guy, Jorge. I took this as the fact that Reynolds is a compulsive gambler. But he gambles on people. He may have gambled on Tony Roundtree at one point and left him in the gutter as well.

3)They still have each other's numbers. The smartest thing Gerry could have done was remove himself from the casino. He's a compulsive gambler. I took it as a good sign that he was starting to go on the right path and prioritize what was important. Not sure how realistic it is, but I don't think it's necessarily the end of their friendship. Just the end of that trip.

[–] Screen_Queen 9 years ago

I took this as the fact that Reynolds is a compulsive gambler. But he gambles on people.

I just finished the movie and I didn't get what motivated Curtis until you said that. That's a fantastic point. Although I'm still curious as to where he got his money from to fund Gerry's gambling...

That's the thing about life...nobody gets out alive.