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Ryan Reynolds stars in Mississippi Grind. (Image:wallruru.com)
Mississippi Grind, a new poker-themed movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, will debut at the Sundance Film Festival next week.
The latest cinematic offering focusing on the world of poker will receive its maiden showing at Park City, Utah, on Monday and the directors are hoping the movie’s stars will give the story a healthy dose of credibility.
Star Power
Mendelsohn has starred in films such as Killing Them Softly and The Dark Knight Rises as Daggett, while Canada’s Reynolds has taken the lead in a number of big budget movies, including the Green Lantern, X-Men and The Captive.
According to Mississippi Grind’s blurb, the story follows veteran grinder, Gerry (played by Mendelsohn), who is a down on his luck grinder looking for a way to break his downswing.
After meeting Curtis (played by Reynolds), Gerry’s fortunes slowly begin to change for the better.
However, as the film develops and the relationship between Gerry and Curtis becomes more and more entwined, a series of twists and turn occurs as they embark on a journey of self-discovery.
A Journey of Discovery
Talking to Utah newspaper, the Standard Examiner, one of the film’s directors, Ryan Fleck, said:
“The characters are getting to know each other at the same time the audience does. We think we know them, and as we get in the car and spend time with them, that gets challenged.”
Adding to that, the co-director, Anna Boden, explained that Gerry’s story is one of self-discovery.
“In our lead character we have someone who is an adult, who’s got all the responsibilities of being an adult, but who has a very hard time facing those responsibilities.
For him, the story is about the journey, the friendship, learning about himself and hopefully changing that,” she told the Examiner.
Although the presence of two Hollywood stars is certainly not a guarantee of success, the trailer does appear to be more promising the previous poker flops.
Poker Flops: Movies that Missed the Mark
Lucky You – The measuring stick against which all other terrible poker movies are compared, Lucky You was bad from start to finish. Despite starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore, the storyline is full of holes (the two lead characters shouldn’t ever be in a relationship) and the final poker scene is laughable. A definite flop.
All-in – Any time one of the lead characters is called “Ace” you know the film is going to be a disappointment. Unrealistic poker scenes are coupled with a clichéd plot served to keep this one away from cinemas.
The Grand – A poker spoof featuring a big money tournament dubbed “The Grand”, this movie did feature a number of poker pros but was badly shot and had very little in the way of a storyline.
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