Two for the Money

I was a bit flirtatious with betting many years ago, in the post-revolutionary era of the emerging seductive siren named Fortuna, and soon gave it up, but if I’d had an advisor as suggestive as McConaughey in the scene when he first introduces himself to the TV audience (the best moment of the film, by the way), I might have bet the last of my savings. Quite a nice conversational drama about the fact that happiness isn't there for everyone forever and that there’s great alchemy in determining the right pick. Al Pacino is traditionally great (has anyone seen this guy acting bad?), Rene Russo has beautiful hair, but her character is quite unnecessary and the insight into the personality and feelings of the main three protagonists is unconvincing. If it had just stayed with gambling and the things around it, like in the first brisk hour, I would have gone higher with the rating. Otherwise, a perfect average to kill a boring evening. (30/03/2006)

A nice genre movie dependent on another excellent performance from Pacino. Young talent McConaughey shows his qualities. I was never much of a gambler and my tips only ever turned out to be right when I didn’t bet with anybody, but those tips are as hot as the Texas sun. The first rising storyline is a little better than the declining one, but it is still a great watch. You bet your ass! (20/03/2015)

Al Pacino in a typically expressive and rhetorically immensely powerful role of a cunning bookmaker will captivate and absorb you with his charisma and body language. And even though the film is predictable from halfway through, you will gladly forgive it. When you have two male leads on the screen and you watch their dialogues, which are excellently written and uniquely performed, you have no concept of time whatsoever. And even though there are plenty of additional elements and over the years it has lost the shine of novelty and hi-tech that this film heavily relied on at the time, you cannot deny its certain qualities and interesting handling of an atypical topic for a film. (26/03/2015)

Though incomparable in terms of overall emotional depth and value altogether, but I feel that Two for the Money is in some ways a sort of Requiem for a Dream for gamblers. The first half of the film is a flawless example of the American Dream working, where everything is perfect and almost everyone is happy. As the film moves into the second half, however, D.J. Caruso gradually shows, as Aronofsky did (though certainly not in such an evocative way), the unfortunate consequences of a condition where you’re so dependent on something that you’re completely incapable of rational thought and at some point you become dangerous both to yourself and to those around you. Al Pacino's performance needs no comment and McConaughey is excellent. (10/11/2012)