The main action of “Rounders” finds Mike nine months into a vow of staying away from cards, a promise taken at the urging of girlfriend and law school cohort Jo (ingenue of the moment Gretchen Mol). This despite having to compete against such players as the veteran Joey Knish (John Turturro) and the sinister Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), an eccentric gambler “connected all the way to the top of the Russian mob” who examines Oreos as if they were tea leaves. Instead, it’s the combination of several factors going more wrong than right that proves too much for it to overcome.ĭamon plays narrator Mike McDermott, a Manhattan poker whiz good enough to have paid half his law school tuition with his winnings.
Off and on involving, the film’s failure to fully capitalize on its assets does not have a convenient villain. But like a poker hand that looks promising but doesn’t quite play out, “Rounders” is unable to do justice to its potential.
