NewPoker Movie - Runner Runner

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DoggyStyle

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Saw a brief review of it on the television this morning and with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake as the two main actors along with Leonardo Decaprio as the Producer I am hoping that it will be better than soem of the other Texas Holdem themed movies I have tried to watch unsucessfully previously.
Given the plot revolves around the concept of online poker being rigged by the house, I have no doubt the wearers of tin foil hats will eat it up.

Due for release Sept 2013

 
Looks good.

Trailer gives away too much though, as they normally do.
 

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One of my brothers (a non-poker player) does movie reviews, including a regular spot on Gold FM. Thought I'd share his review of Runner Runner.


Release Date:26th September 2013
Rating:MA15+
Director(s):Brad Furman
Stars:Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton & Anthony Mackie
Run Time:91 min’s
Score: 3¾ out of 5

Runner Runner is a fairly predictable flick in which a cut-throat, win-at-all-costs tycoon (Affleck) befriends a younger guy (Timberlake) whose admiration of the older guy makes him ripe for manipulation. Younger guy dreams of living the glamorous like of the mega-rich; & whilst smart, is just naïve enough to take things on face value.

Along the way younger guy falls for the tycoon’s hottie ‘kind-of-girlfriend’ (Arterton), as well as being dragged in by the authorities (Mackie) who are chasing the slippery big fish… HANG ON, isn’t that Wall Street? No, WS was about the stock market, & this centres around the world of online poker.

Actually, there’s a chance this is in fact WS … albeit with a bit of Kevin Spacey’s 21 & a lot of Affleck’s character from the tragically under-rated 2000-released Boiler Room.

But in spite of its blatant lack of originality, the charisma of Affleck & Timberlake make RR one hell of an immensely watchable guilty pleasure. And unlike so many flicks these days that seem to equate running time with quality, RR doesn’t overstay its welcome at a tight 91 minutes. If anything, one of my few quibbles with this flick was that it could’ve actually benefited from an extra 5 or 10 minutes to towards the end for a bit more exposition.

Speaking of exposition, Timberland is Princeton grad student Richie who, believing he’s been cheated on Affleck’s massive online gambling site, travels to Costa Rica to challenge him. But what Richie wasn’t expecting was Affleck’s Ivan not only apologising, but then offering him a job as effectively his right-hand man, with the promise of untold wealth. Naturally all is not quite as it seems … but hey, things never look too good to be true, do they?

If you can ignore the ever-so-slight lack of originality, RR has a lot to offer as a harmless, fun Saturday Night flick for both the boys & girls. Oh, & if like me the only things you know about poker are that 1. it’s played with cards & 2. the vast majority of players lose more than they win, don’t worry … no poker knowledge is necessary.
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I watched this the other day (Im not usually a big cinema person, but will actually go to the movies occasionally)

I thought it was decent enough. It was never going to have a heap of poker content (that is what BOOM! is for obviously) but I thought it provided a good mix of small amounts of poker content tacked on to a movie.

Only bad beat was gambling over which suit the first flush of the movie would be.

HIGHLIGHT TO REVEAL ->Not only did spades not get there, there wasn't a single flush in the movie
 
From what I could tell from the trailer, online poker is the MacGuffin of the movie.

I did get a phone call from my brother, before he wrote his review, to ask me what 'runner runner' meant. :)
 
I'll probably go see it this month. Main reason would be to see Gemma Arterton who I absolutely adore :hearts:
 

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Cambolts said:
bet raise fold...Is a well thought out movie!
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how do you arrive at this conclusion?

poker got popular ---> people made money playing cards on their computer ---> poker became illegal cos of teh gubbamint ---> boring woman lost livelihood.

pretty boring stuff, and i actually like poker.
 
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