Unnecessary, only for Pacino fans

Rating: 3/10 (4 June 2008)

'Two for the money' is based on the story of Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey), a promising football player who suffers a serious injury, and while recovering and trying to make a living discovers he has a big talent in guessing how the matches turn out. He's hired by Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), the owner of a big betting agency, who helps turning him into a personality and earning loads of money. But as he gets more and more successful, things get out of control and he doesn't know who he is anymore.
Well, for me the whole thing just didn't work at all. The plot is absolutely shallow and predictable and there are just too many clichés. I can't believe anyone still bases a movie on the 'how-far-will-I-go-before-I-lose-myself' routine. The pace of the film is awful, being exciting only in the beginning; the viewer will quickly lose his interest in the continuity of things. There's also what for me seems to be an unrealistic fact in the film  how come a beginner in the betting business gets to rise so fast and gets so much investment out of nowhere?  it's either an incoherence or more time should've been spent in explaining Brandon's career beginning.
To add up to the terrible script there's the fact that Matthew McConaughey is absolutely untalented and just doesn't have what it takes to lead a film that isn't a chick flick. Perhaps that is even more transparent when you're acting beside Al Pacino. His entire character is a cliché. On the other hand there's Al's part which he plays as well as usual. It's not a special or unforgettable performance, but in my opinion he was prejudiced by his character. Both his and McConaughey's parts are poorly built; Al's the most, and I got completely confused on what I was suppose to think about Walter Abrams. Is he a nice guy with a gambling problem and some psychological issues or is he a greedy, lying bastard who will do anything for his benefit? I didn't know whether to root for the leading man or the supporting actor though I'll always pick Al, that's for sure.
The only good couple of moments in this film in my opinion were the ones that focused on Al and Rene Russo, who although barely appears in the film, works well. Their relationship is one of the few convincing facts in this movie. Other than that there is actually a nice message at the end of the film regarding self-destruction.
Al can't perform miracles !