MOVIE REVIEW: Mississippi Grind

Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind

Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind

Published Oct 16, 2015

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MISSISSIPPI GRIND

DIRECTORS: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Alfre Woodard, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton

CLASSIFICATION: 13 DL

RUNNING TIME: 108 minutes

RATING: 3 stars (out of 5)

Theresa Smith

Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn floating down the Mississippi River to gamble and have fun. Should be entertaining, right? Well, it’s more a grind than any kind of entertainment. What this is is a character study in regret and desperation, steeped in the modern Southern charm bubbling in the neon light- soaked casinos.

Reynolds is charming, but insincere (he keeps on repeating throughout the film, in case you don’t pick that up) poker player Curtis, while Mendelsohn is older, down-on-his-luck gambler Gerry, who persuades the younger man that a road trip will change their luck.

Curtis is the younger version of that old guy you normally get at the poker table, telling wonderfully florid tales and cleaning out the house while you weren’t paying attention because his story was so intriguing. Gerry is the loser who spends the evening trying to get you to loan him just one more chip because his luck is going to change, he can feel it.

They set off in Gerry’s car, and there is a bit of a boat trip in there too, but it is basically them lurching from one casino to the next. Gerry wants Curtis to get him into a high stakes poker game in New Orleans, while Curtis simply wants to go with the flow.

Gerry’s gambling addiction is getting out of hand as he leaves a litany of debt and angry people in his wake and the more time the two spend together the more they get to know each other. His increasing edge of desperation is the opposite to Curtis’s laissez-faire approach to the idea of gambling.

They keep taking risks, making bad choices and while this isn’t the story of the greatest friendship ever, it is about two self-destructive guys who are very honest about who they are.

Miller pops up as the whore with a heart of gold, but her purpose seems to be only to remind the viewer that Curtis is duplicitous despite the way he pretends he likes her and the idea of settling down.

The film doesn’t really go anywhere, it seems to be the vehicle to set up the idea that Gerry is a loser and can’t stop himself, while Curtis has a past, but we never find out what it is. And then it ends several scenes after the perfect last line.

If you liked Rounders or The Hustler, you will like this.

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