Throwback: ‘Rounders’

Edward Norton turns 45 today, and we’re throwing it back to 1998 with Rounders, the neo-noir poker thriller that further propelled Norton’s career after the success of Primal Fear and before American History X. 
In case you need a refresher; Rounders follows ex-gambler Mike (Matt Damon) and his best friend Worm (Norton) as they scramble to come up with $15,000 to pay off the inner circle Mike lost all his money to a couple of years before. True to his name, Worm gets the two into major trouble, owing debts to the wrong people. Mike, being the pushover that he is, tries to help his buddy out, but only digs himself deeper into the poker pot with the baddest card sharks in the city.

5:30: Thank you, Rounders, for teaching everyone how to properly play Texas Hold’em.

6:30: Though John Malkovich is one of the greatest living actors of our time, his accent in this movie as gangster Teddy KGB is distractingly bad. “I tayyyake cure mannneyyy.”

19:40: Ed Norton always has the WORST facial hair.

27:30: Hey, remember when she was on Providence?

30:00: What makes Ed Norton so believable in this movie is that he seems like he would be great at poker. Maybe it’s the voice or the “who cares?” expression, but he would be a snake if he sat down at a table at The Mirage.

53:30: “In the poker game of life, women are the rake. They are the fucking rake.” Words to live by from Ed Norton.

56:30: Only John Turturro could rock double velour in the same outfit.

1:17: 30: How cool would it be if you could just look at money and know how much it is? Many people can do this, but you know, for us average folk?

1:18:00: Let’s be real, Matt Damon has never had hair on his face. Also, when you’re $15,000 in the hole, the last thing you should do is go for a shave.

1:22:30: What’s so unique about Ed Norton is that he’s not your typical villain. He’s sneaky and conniving and makes everything so tense and uncomfortable until it all comes crashing down. Here, he got caught dealing Mike better cards than the rest of the table and in turn got the crap beat out of both of them.

Final Thoughts: The voiceover by Matt Damon, the jazzy soundtrack, and the badass card-playing: everything about Rounders is too cool for school. For a movie with little action, you’re kept on edge the whole time, even the second time around.
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Photos: Miramax/Netflix