Underwritten and Overacted

Rating: 4/10 (11 May 2006)

The rise, fall and ultimate salvation of a former college athlete extraordinaire, turned odds picking genius and his megalomaniac mentor. Your basic C+.
Stylish but vapid effort that leaves you for the most part, unsatisfied and somewhat confused. The clichés are in abundance, and the plot alternates between good and dumb like a little kid playing with a light switch. Predictably, in the end it all falls back to earth with a resounding Holloywood ending thud. Pacino and McCon handle some cartoonish material admirably well, but their characters, like the overall story, are just completely unreal and thoroughly unlikeable. To this mix we toss in Exec. Producer Renee Russo, who gives a credible yet superfluous performance playing the faithful former junkie wife. Sigh.
Its difficult not to compare this film to Devils Advocate, as Pacino is basically handed and relives the exact same role complete with generous helpings of blasphemy-rich, meant to make you squirm F dialog. An idiotic sequence where Pacino coaches goody 2 shoes McCon on incorporating the F word into his vocabulary, ends up with the latter using it in a telephone conversation later with his mother...she was calling him about some major family crisis that believe it or not, is never fully revealed to us and is in no way resolved. Shall I talk of the Gamblers Anonymous meeting where Pacino hands out business cards looking for new customers for his 1 900 operation? The situations, arcs and overall template are near carbon copy of Devils Adv., but as you can see nowhere near as plausible, which is a laugh considering Devils Advocate deals with the supernatural. (alas no naked Charlize this time either.)
To be fair, major shortcomings and annoyances thrust aside, I grudgingly admit this movie somehow manages to entertain. I credit that more, however, to the subject matter. If you have any sort of interest in gambling, and who doesn't, there is a decided thrill in watching someone ride the roller coaster vicariously. Silly and banal though it may be, 2 For The Money still manages to scratch that gambler euphoria itch.