Pacino doing his thing in entertaining film

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2005)

We have all seen films where certain actor's just seem to shamelessly chew up their scenes with gusto but let's face it, it would be hard to imagine other films if they didn't. I think this is one of those films because without Al Pacino doing what he does best this would probably come off as tedious at best. Story is about an ex-football player named Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey) who has suffered a career ending injury and ends up working for $10 an hour at a 1-900 telephone service where he gives football picks to listeners.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Brandon is so good at this that eventually he gets a phone call from Walter Abrams (Pacino) who runs a sports betting service in New York City where clients spend thousands and even millions of dollars. Walter is very successful and married to Toni (Rene Russo) and together they raise their young daughter but he's also a recovering gambling addict with a serious heart condition. Walter brings Brandon to the East Coast and shows him how to be a ruthless prognosticator and when Brandon proves to be a complete success with his football picks he actually gets a co-anchor position on Walter's cable access show. Things eventually start to go downhill when Brandon's picks start going sour and clients start losing all of their money but things really get bad when Walter starts gambling again and also suspects that Brandon and his wife are having an affair.
This is directed by D.J. Caruso (Taking Lives) who has shown to be a competent filmmaker and here he's made a pretty good looking film that makes good use of it's New York City locations. The film's story doesn't offer anything revolutionary in terms of surprises but the main theme of people betting large amounts of cash is something that I have always found intriguing. McConaughey is a capable actor and here he's well cast as an ex-jock who is easily drawn into the gambling circles and from the perspective of the audience it's believable to watch his character get so taken in. Pacino is the key to this film not only because of his star power but for the simple fact that he's the real life force that makes this effort so entertaining to watch. His character has been described by many as reminiscent of his role in "The Devil's Advocate" and it would be hard to argue it but being one of the best actors in the world he still gives this character enough unique tics to make sure it is clearly different. Sure, Pacino is over the top but can anyone really imagine this film without him? Dan Gilroy's script doesn't offer anything that hasn't been done better before (1974's The Gambler is a good example) but the cast is good and Pacino once again shows audiences that he's still a force to be reckoned with.