Rounders (1998)

Despite the fact that this movie will undoubtedly encourage countless bad poker players to move to Las Vegas for "the big win," I enjoyed it from front to back. Part of my fascination with this film is its suggestion that there are countless underground high-stakes poker games in and around NYC at any given time. It's not surprising, but it does reveal how much of Gotham City is invisible to straight edgers like myself. The bad influence of Ed Norton (in one of his more DeNiro-esque efforts) upon Matt Damon's "leave it all behind" character is fun to watch, though a bit predictable. The real gems in this movie, though, are the supporting actors of John Turturro (as Joey Knish) and John Malkovich, with an over-the-top performance as the Russian gambling kingpin "KGB."

4 out of 5 Hersirs