Andrij Parekh (whose languid camera movements often feel reminiscent of an earlier era) and set to a soundtrack bursting with blues and country. As played with extraordinary control (but also crackles of live-wire intensity) by Australian actor Mendelsohn, Gerry, an unhappy 44-year-old from Dubuque, Iowa, isn’t the sort to lay all his cards on the table right away. © Copyright 2020 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC.
As long as the lackluster ending doesn’t turn you off too badly, it’s a deserving investment. Mississippi Grind presents Gerry, a property agent played with Ben Mendelsohn, since he pushes his car via Dubuque, Iowa. Beginning here and winding down south along the river off and on riverboats and through shady poker halls down to New Orleans, Mississippi Grind … This isn’t the only notable thing about it, … Despite having Ryan Reynolds and Sienna Miller in its cast and being set in cities like St. Louis and New Orleans, there’s nothing particularly flashy about this film.
It’s true — some of the shots are recognizable if you live in this small city of ours, notably Paul’s Tavern downtown. Curtis buys Gerry a drink; at a bar hours later, Gerry sees Curtis and returns the favor, leading to a night of heavy drinking. In it, Gerry places a large amount of money on a long-shot horse, and the horse loses. It helps that the lead actors each nail their performances. Arriving just in time to wash away the unfortunate memory of Paramount’s Mark Wahlberg drama “The Gambler,” “Mississippi Grind” gives us, by contrast, a protagonist whom we believe completely as a man consumed by his addiction, yet also complicated enough to be defined by more than one layer of identity. Gayle King Talks Wild Election Night: ‘I Slept in My Clothes and My Spanx’, Rob Lowe Downsizes to 1970s Montecito Fixer-Upper, Alex Trebek, Longtime ‘Jeopardy!’ Host, Dead at 80, 8 Over-the-Top Features That Make ‘Lana,’ the 351-Foot Gigayacht, a Seaworthy Stunner, Google Steers Into DOJ Antitrust Suit Ahead of a Potential Biden White House, The Right Beard Wash Can Bring Your Worn-Out Beard Back to Life. Curtis, by contrast, seems to be a man of few attachments or emotional baggage, a dynamic, free-spirited risk taker whose current hot streak seems to shake something loose in Gerry, especially when his own performance seems to improve in Curtis’ company. That steadily pulsing emotional core is built into the beautifully harmonized turns by Mendelsohn, stamping out every trace of showiness in complete service to one of his richest roles to date, and Reynolds, tempering his silver-tongued charisma with quiet notes of melancholy. $3,750,000. The picture premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. This is an indie film that actually wears the label correctly. Read Next: Documentary on Rolling Stones Pianist Chuck Leavell Explores His Work With Keys and Trees, Cannes: A Look at the Official Selection, by the Numbers, Film Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’, Dave Chappelle Talks Trump, COVID-19, Mass Shootings in ‘Saturday Night Live’ Monologue, Johnny Depp Forced to Exit ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Franchise, Hollywood Celebrates Joe Biden’s Win Over Donald Trump: ‘You’re Fired’, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Re-Enacts Biden and Harris’ Victory Speeches, Imagines Trump’s Concession, ‘The Tonight Show’ Head Writer Rebecca Drysdale Exits, Also Says She’ll ‘Never Work on Another Trump Sketch’, Read Charlize Theron’s Awesome Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speech for Depeche Mode, Norman Lloyd Turns 106: ‘He Is the History of Our Industry’, Norm Crosby, Comedian Who Was Master of Malaprops, Dies at 93, How Americans Are Celebrating Joe Biden’s Win Across the Country, Inside the Groundbreaking ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode With Trans and Non-Binary Characters, Why Bret Baier Calling Biden ‘President Elect’ on Fox News Is Such a Big Deal, 'Mank' Review: Gary Oldman Plays 'Citizen Kane' Screenwriter in David Fincher's Drama. ‘Mississippi Grind’ Movie Review Some of you may have heard or seen something notable about the film “Mississippi Grind,” in that it was filmed in Dubuque. Intentionally or not, the directors seem to have buried at least a few clever visual clues throughout the picture — the Gateway Arch of St. Louis mirroring a rainbow glimpsed in the opening shot — which raise the possibility that, as Gerry and Curtis dare to believe, the unseen hand of Fate may indeed be guiding them toward success. Mendelsohn is his equal as the guy who’s the exact opposite: a pitiful addict who keeps digging himself into deeper and deeper holes and has burned bridges because he can’t stop himself. --- Source: "Movie with Dubuque Ties Hits Sundance Film Festival," Telegraph Herald, February 2, 2015, p. 3A
Still, discerning arthouse-goers will warm to the film’s superb performances, haunting sense of place and willingness to meander, as well as its sly rumination on the mysterious interplay of fate and friendship in shaping an individual’s destiny. It misses out on being better by copping out on the ending. Reynolds is as good as he’s ever been as the charismatic guy who doesn’t know when to shut up, but is smart enough to know when to stop gambling, and turns out to be a pretty good guy for the most part. By the time you read this, this film is expected to be available through video on demand. This isn’t the only notable thing about it, however. He listens to some motivational recording offering suggestions about the best way best to conquer the indications of stress, looking defeated and careful. They become friends and soon go off on a journey to New Orleans. Before long the two men are bonding happily over booze and cards, racetracks and billiards, and gradually unveiling their different histories. When he’s not sleepwalking his way through his job as a real-estate agent, Gerry is gambling (or listening to endless audio recordings with advice on how to up his game), a ruinously expensive hobby that has resulted in a pile of debts overseen by a loan shark (Alfre Woodard). In that time, they hit St. Louis, meet a couple of women, visit Little Rock where Gerry meets his ex-wife and leaves on a sour note when he’s caught trying to steal from her sock drawer, and finally hit New Orleans where their escapades get wilder still. The opening setup of Fleck and Boden’s script — in which a handsome gent in his 30s named Curtis (Reynolds) strides into a casino, plops himself down at a poker table and talks up a genial storm as he buys Gerry a bourbon — shows the latter man doing little more than quietly reacting, wondering exactly how to respond to this friendly, charismatic stranger in his midst. What the film does go big on is the gambling, which is shown in numerous places and formats: whether it’s in the casinos or at the races, small-time bets or big money. Curtis hands him $100 and tells him to get a bus ticket and go home. Convinced that Curtis is a good omen, Gerry persuades the guy to join him as he gambles his way along the Mississippi River down to a big poker game in New Orleans with a hefty $25,000 buy-in; Curtis helps him out by staking him $2,000 to start. Gamblers played by Ryan Reynolds, left, and Ben Mendelsohn make their way from Dubuque, Iowa, to New Orleans on a misguided, haphazard road trip in "Mississippi Grind… For sale by owner. For all the film’s pleasurably unhurried narrative rhythms, the final 20-minute stretch seems to suffer from an excess of possible endings, a flaw that nevertheless makes a certain kind of sense: Every reversal of fortune, we realize, can be outdone by another, stranding the characters in a twisty, neverending cycle of winning and (more often) losing. We see Gerry sink to new lows throughout, but he’s never more wildly alive than when he suddenly announces, in defiance of every prudent impulse, that he’s going all in.
Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) is a gambling addict from Iowa who meets fellow gambler Curtis (Ryan Reynolds). As we learn later, Gerry also has a failed marriage and a daughter he never sees or talks to. “Mississippi Grind” is a good little flick. And there’s still more ahead, including Gerry’s eventual arrival in New Orleans and subsequent meeting with an old associate of Curtis’ (well played by James Toback, in a nice nod to the original “Gambler” that falls right in line with the directors’ extended ’70s-cinema homage). Starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, "Mississippi Grind" was a motion picture about two gamblers who travel from Dubuque to New Orleans in play in a high-stakes poker game.
Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds give terrific performances as gambling buddies in this bittersweet, beautifully textured road movie. Yet for all the impressive authenticity of the various settings, it’s Gerry and Curtis’ continually evolving push-pull dynamic that deservedly takes centerstage here, in a picture driven far less by narrative incident than by its gently pulsing comic undercurrents and vivid contemplation of character.
Zip Code 21769, A Mighty Heart Shooting Locations, Dragon Saga Evolved, The Mystery Of The Wax Museum 1968, The Mothman Legacy Review, Brothers Grimm Stories, Rocky Carroll Ncis, 400 Days The Walking Dead, Ian Whittaker Climber, Expa V3 Login, Harvester Bracknell Offers, Just Cause Y'all Waited 2 Sales, The Magicians Actress In Disclosure, Pagliacci Lyrics, Whitney Henriquez Job, High Court Wp Status, Aurangabad Court Case Status By Case Number, Dragon Saga Evolved, Lloyd Banks Merchandise, Sarajevo Crisis World War 1, Haley Murphy Wikipedia, Blue Devils High School Football, Nighthawks Empty, Dani Shay Bio, The Horseman On The Roof Movie Online, Tea And Sympathy Reviews, Poppy Bags Uk, The Avenue Auburn, Pillar Of Gor, Register Of Probate Massachusetts 2020, Skull And Bones, Kookaburra Sail Shade, Whole Foods Edgewater Chicago, Only The Family Empire, Vegetable Marrow, Dvrpc Circuit Trails, Mackenzie Porter Travelers, Anna Marcea,
