Poker Face - A Poor Hand

 

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    On a recent episode of the podcast How Did This Get Made, the hosts discussed the 2014 film, Winters Tale, starring Collin Farrel, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Russell Crowe. While discussing Russell Crowe's unusual performance (along with his ridiculous excuse for an Irish accent), one of the hosts commented that he appears to be suffering from a terrible case of "Marlon-Brando-Desiese." A common condition among actors who have become so engrossed in their own apparent greatness that they delude themselves into believing little effort is required to maintain talent and skill. Often resulting in unnecessarily flat performances, followed by delusions of grandeur, typically manifested by their sudden appearance in the director's chair. 

    While Russell Crowe has proven himself capable of directing and still able to put effort back into his performances (see his 2014 film The Water Diviner for proof of concept), it would seem that same sense of conviction and passion has not made its way towards Russell Crowe's latest offering, Poker Face. A film that seriously should have been so much better than it is; it's almost insulting that it's not. 

    The story follows a tech billionaire named Jake Foley (Russell Crowe), who has an affinity for fine art and card games, specifically poker. One day, he invites a group of his childhood friends to his cliffside home for a unique poker game with the highest stakes they've ever played with. Despite this game's unusual circumstances, his friends all decide to play. As the night unfolds and the chips fly around the table filled with laughs and conversation, the group of friends begins to feel uneasy, not just because of how much money they're playing with. It turns out that the game is part of an elaborate plan devised by Jake to confront some past demons with his long-time friends. Soon, the true motivation behind the game reveals itself, and his friends may prefer to change where it goes. 

    This sounds like an engaging and textured plot that would make for a great and entertaining film, and that's because it seriously is. However, it takes the film nearly forty-five minutes to begin and establish that plot. Minor spoilers, but the film spends the first third of its runtime with pretty but seemingly unrelated montages of ocean waves and Russell Crowe experiencing a Peyote high. Sure, it lines up with events depicted later in the film and does appear to set the intended mood, but it fails to provide any substantial reason to care for the eventual proceedings. It would have made more sense for the film to begin with the friends arriving at the house for the game and occasionally edit these opening moments throughout the runtime to introduce an element of mystery to the story, thereby adding to the tension. 

    When the plot finally does get off the ground, it does such a poor job of introducing the other characters and maintaining its mysterious twists that it all feels incredibly hollow, however unintentionally. 

    Because of this, there is a massive disconnect between audience engagement and the intended theme of the story. While most of the performances and bits of the dialogue prevent the film from becoming a complete and total disaster (hence the two-star rating), this unfortunate trainwreck might not have deserved the time of day. 

    Poker Face is the worst kind of film to review in a negative light. It has a fantastic idea for a story with otherwise talented people trying their damndest to make something memorable out of forgettable presentational aspects. If you must watch a movie about the dangers of gambling with engaging poker scenes, watch Maverick instead. At least that movie has Mel Gibson at his finest. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.