Even Money

Plot synopsis:
Carolyn Carver is a published author whose husband and daughter believe she is working on a new book, when in fact she is gambling away their life savings. She is befriended by Walter, a has-been magician with a gambling habit who entertains casino guests for tips. Clyde Snow, meanwhile, is deeply in debt to gamblers, to the extent that he must ask his younger brother Godfrey, a college basketball star, to shave points at games.
The violent and verbally abusive Victor is a criminal who may or may not be the front for Ivan, a mob boss no one actually has seen. A crippled detective named Brunner is investigating a murder that Victor's thugs no doubt committed, possibly on Ivan's orders.
Victor also must deal with Augie, who wants to cut in on his bookmaking business. Augie is secretly wearing a wire for the detective, looking to get an incriminating statement from Victor on tape.
Carolyn's husband is upset with her constant absences and ultimately catches her gambling. He wants a divorce. Walter gets a tip from Victor that a basketball game is fixed. He decides to wager everything he owns on the outcome, and persuades Carolyn to do the same.
Unbeknownst to them, Clyde has told his brother that his debt is paid off, meaning there is no need to lose the game on purpose. It is not true. Clyde's life has been threatened by Victor if this game goes wrong.
Victor arranges for Augie to be killed. He attends the basketball game in person. Clyde's brother hits a game-winning shot, which makes Clyde proud but places his life in imminent danger. He leaves the arena and is gunned down by Victor's men on the road.
The game's outcome devastates Carolyn, who has lost everything, including her family. Walter goes to Victor's house to kill him. The detective Brunner witnesses this but, sympathetically, lets Walter go free. The magician's fate is nonetheless sealed.
In a final twist, it turns out that Ivan is very real, and that Detective Brunner is an accomplice.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
Despite its decidedly un-ambitious nature, "Even Money" is a modern film noir melodrama with more story lines and characters than Robert Altman's "Nashville." Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Ray Liotta, Kelsey Grammar, Forest Whitaker, Grant Sullivan, Jay Mohr, and Carla Gugino all play individuals whose only real connection is that they are in some way or another touched by the evils of gambling.Robert Tannen's overstuffed screenplay wanders all over the map, forcing the actors to spend most of their time just trying to keep up with all the narrative permutations.
Individually, any of the various plot strands might have made for an interesting movie, but taken together, they just keep getting in each others' way.Veteran filmmaker Mark Rydell has not only helmed the piece but appears in a crucial cameo role late in the film.
"Even Money" is an ensemble drama that aims to be the Traffic or Syriana of gambling, but comes off closer to Crasha trite amalgam of scenes we've seen many, many times before.
The fact that you've heard so little about a film with such an impressive cast (Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta, Danny DeVito, Tim Roth, Kelsey Grammar, Nick Cannon, Jay Mohr, Carla Gugino, Forest Whitaker) should tell you something; indeed, the scuttlebutt on the ol' World Wide Internets is that the film was headed straight to DVD until Whitaker picked up the Oscar.The cast is mostly good, but there's only so much that they can do with this material.
Basinger and Liotta are especially hard up, stranded in a story thread that is older than the hills; poor Carla Gugino is stuck playing the same scene (by my count) three times straight, which is a criminal misuse of an actress as intelligent and sexy as she.
Tim Roth has some nice moments as an especially snarky bad guy, though this viewer wondered if he would really show up at the college basketball game that provides the film's climax (with a resolution that can be clearly seen the moment the story turn is introduced).
Kelsey Grammar (nearly unrecognizable) appears, at the film's beginning, to be doing an interesting piece of character acting as a cop, but he then disappears for over an hour, which makes his character's big final scene somewhat less than compelling."Even Money" is a mess, an attempt to manufacture a prestige picture by throwing many talented actors at a script whose most complex insight appears to be "gambling is bad".
Director Mark Rydell has helmed a couple of successful films ("On Golden Pond", "The Cowboys") and some interesting failures ("Intersection", "The Rose"), but when he pops up briefly as a powerful figure at the end of "Even Money", all I could think of was his similar acting role in Altman's "The Long Goodbye", and how much I'd rather be watching that movie than this one..
This new film has a superb cast, with potential award winning performances from Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger and -- particularly -- Forest Whitaker.Tense, tight script that keeps you guessing 'til the very end.
A new writer, and I'd love to see other stuff he's written.If you're looking for a typical light, frothy Hollywood film with a happy ending, look elsewhere: 'Even Money' gives you a strong dose of real life -- as several lives unwind because of addictive gambling.The same producer took a chance on "Crash" -- this film, in my opinion, is definitely in the same league..
Don't know what movie he was watching, but I was at the screening Sunday night and the film was well received and rightly so.It's an intelligent, character driven movie.
EVEN MONEY is a better film.One issue: I had no idea in which city the movie took place.Other than that, I highly recommend this film for those of you who miss the great character driven films of the 70's..
"Even Money" is a film noir with revenge at its center, in gambling win or lose there is a payday and in this movie all the debts are paid, and there is potential for two couples to emerge from their morass.
This is a good film, directed by a pro, Mark Rydell, who has even has a cameo role in which some of the irony and mystery is explained.This is a sleazy movie -- to paraphrase Michael Douglas in "Wall Street," sleaze is good, and tips its hat to Orson Welles in one of my favorite films, "Touch of Evil." Yes, it is about addiction and much of the extraordinary cast (Kim Basinger, Kelsey Grammar, Danny Devito, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotto and Tim Roth among them) play it carefully, straddling the line, without becoming camp or going over the top.
High marks to the director for this.If you like your cynicism straight and don't turn your head at a little cinematic violence this is a movie you will enjoy.
I will be surprised if it ever reaches the big screen or even DVD release.The script is unbelievable, the acting bad, the plot rubbish and to top it all off Kesley Grammar has a prosthetic nose and chin - and done really badly!!
Welcome to Even Money, a strictly, by-the-numbers, connect the dots, type of film that has very little to recommend it.Everybody seems to be sleepwalking it, borrowing character elements from their previous films.Tim Roth plays a vicious gangster.
Oh and Forest Whitaker has to ask his basketball prodigy brother to throw games so he can cancel his debt with the loan sharks, wow that's novel.And then we have Kelsey Grammar with a plastic nose and face to match, that distracted me so much from his character, every time he appeared I kept thinking what's Kelsey Grammar doing with the dodgy nose?
Different director and very poor writer, and a plot that isn't anywhere near as intertwined as people think.A very simple, unoriginal film, with NOTHING to commend it.
From my point of view, the actors did the extra needed to make this movie an Oscar nominee and another one should be given for the castings.
with lots of help from the others: Forest Whitaker, Tim Roth, Danny DeVito, Ray Liotta.
Also I think the point was to not know what city it was in...the main focus was on the characters as the last commenter said....Kelsey Grammar did such a good job he for sure will be nominated for many supporting actor awards if this film does see the light of day...in fact I would bet this movie would too....Kim Basinger was the low point in the movie to me...but that may just be because I don't like her...but the rest of the cast was amazing.
Tim Roth did a fantastic job especially with the strange awkward body positions he would stand in...just made him seem so creepy...anyway...great film...if you get a chance see it...
Basinger plays a housewife who hides her gambling addiction from her family, even if it means they think she's having an affair.
Whitaker plays the older brother of a college basketball student on the verge of making it big time, only to run the risk of being brought down for shaving points.
DeVito is a small time magician with a bit of a gambling problem, himself, while Grammar plays a cop trying to find the killer of a bookie and finds himself on the trail of another bookie who's trying to take over the dead man's action.This film is good!
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bottom-feeders out there who's main reason for living is to give you that "sugar," only to take it away when the time is right (so to speak).I'm not sure if the director and/or the writer were speaking from personal experience, but, speaking as one with his own addiction demons, he/they weren't very far off the mark!
You can sit in a University and listen to dry lectures from Psychology profs, or you can watch a great movie like this and understand human nature and desire more than you ever imagined.Yes, we all want more, but most are not willing to make the commitment necessary to get it, and some cannot live with the consequences of failure.
Who was it that said, "If you put all you own on one roll of the dice, and lose, and start over, you will be a man." That's why so many people stay married when they shouldn't - they can't face starting over.This film had more life lessons that you can imagine and some damn fine actors to teach and entertain us.Kim Basinger was magnificent as a struggling writer who falls into a gambling addiction.
Another GREAT movie, from the people who brought you "Crash".
I mean, who would expect Kelsey Grammar doing a great job in the same movie as Danny DeVito and Forest Whitaker?) It's a really tight script with three separate story lines - it moves well, you get caught up in the excellent characters, and there's never a dull moment.I could do without the title, but besides that this movie is a winner.(This was done by the same production company put out Crash, which just won a 'Best Picture' Oscar - and I think they've got another winner here.).
Tim Roth is one of those actors who is never boring regardless of how good or poor the particular film may be.
While I can appreciate why some people hate this film, I just approached it from a different angle, took it for what it was and didn't look at my watch once during its run..
I don't know who was the worst, Kim Basinger and her screaming shaky head or Forrest Whitaker repeating the one line he had in the film, "Godfrey Snow, Godfrey Snow!".AAAAHHHH!.
(The producer is notoriously cheap.)There are some wonderful moments which remain, but when I watched it, I just wanted to get back in the business and remake it as it should have been made the first time!Pity.A lot of things need to come together to make a great film..
Now, there's also Mark Rydell's "Even Money", depicting several people linked by gambling addictions.
There's Carolyn Carver (Kim Basinger), a writer ignoring her family and spending all her time in the casino with prestidigitator Walter Markowitz (Danny DeVito); Clyde Snow (Forest Whitaker), a handyman trying to help his son become a basketball player; and Augie (Jay Mohr), who has taken some very wrong turns in his life.
But in control of everything is slime-ball Victor (Tim Roth), intent on rigging the upcoming basketball game.I should say that I didn't find this movie to be as good as the aforementioned intertwined-story films, as the aforementioned ones dealt more with political issues.
At times, every one of the characters made my skin crawl just a little bit.All in all, an OK movie.
Also starring Ray Liotta as Kim Basinger's husband, Kelsey Grammar as a detective, and director Rydell at the end.PS: Mark Rydell also directed Bette Midler's movies "The Rose" and "For the Boys"..
THIS cast could have taken the film into a 'HIGHER realm' of movie magic than the 'Great Abraham' ever managed.
Disappointing Mark Rydell film that fails to 'take off'....KGrammar&RLiotta, terrific actors both, seem in suspended animation.
Based around a theme of gambling addiction and its consequences, Even Money definitely delivers where it matters.
But it is that of Forest Whitaker who absolutely shines once again in this film, showing that there is no role he cannot hold.While the acting for the most part is truly fierce, and the mood is alive with all the happenings of a gritty urban underworld, Even Money feels like it tries just a bit too hard, or possibly, not enough, in making the character's stories interweave and you can see it a mile away.
A special vote to Kim Basinger who isn't getting the recognition she deserves, she's adorable here and she's grown to be a splendid actress, despite the ensemble cast the real star here is her.
Apparently no one who knows anything at all about gambling helped out on this film.
Basinger's character pulls a complete 180 three different times in the film.
People always want more than they have; more money, more time, more love...more life.
Forest Whitaker needs his NBA bound nephew Nick Cannon to shave points in basketball games to win money.
Double or Nothing: Big Gamble on Fine Cast in Otherwise Craps Film.
EVEN MONEY (2007) ** Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker, Tim Roth, Jay Mohr, Kelsey Grammar, Nick Cannon, Carla Gugino, Grant Sullivan,Carson Brown, Cassandra Hepburn (Dir: Mark Rydell)Double or Nothing: Big Gamble on Fine Cast in Otherwise Craps FilmGambling is an addiction that, like drug abuse or alcoholism, affects not only the one perpetuating the disease but also those around them including their loved ones.
In this melodramatic attempt at showing the ills of the so-called gambling lifestyle (an oxymoron come to think of it) then the odds are against the viewer in this hodgepodge of dramatic vignettes.Intertwined throughout this CRASH-like narrative are Carol Carver (Basinger, acting up a storm here), a novelist struggling to find her second novel but fritters her afternoons away in a local casino overwhelmed with guilt at having her family's life savings nearly completely lost at her bad luck; Walter (De Vito, one of the film's producers to boot), a down-and-out slight-of-hand magician who thinks he can get back in the lime-light and takes Carol under his wing in helping her get back her lost monies ; Clyde Snow (Whitaker, equally giving a run for his money acting up to a full-bodied sweat, a hard-working plumber who wagers too high on his younger brother Godfrey (Cannon), a skilled high school basketball player with dreams of the NBA in his brilliant future; Augie and Murph (Mohr and Sullivan, respectively), a pair of small-time bookies who take their anger out on the welchers with quick brutal beatings; and Victor (Roth hamming it up to the hilt) as an oily big-time bookie who may be guilty in a series of murders of his competition.Also on hand are Liotta as Basinger's English lit teaching husband whose patience is growing weary thinking his wife is having an affair and their tween daughter Claudia (Brown) rebelling with her budding sexuality; Veronica (Gugino), a doctor and girlfriend to Murph who isn't aware (at first) of her beloved's violent tendencies; and Detective Brunner (Grammer in some unwisely recommended facial make-up prostheses), investigating the string of murders and the lure of a mysterious gangster/red herring named Ivan.
The scattershot screenplay by newcomer Robert Tannen is all over the place and while it gets the duh point of gambling is bad for you the flat direction by vet Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND) leaves his actors grasping for air like fish out of water.
The has-been magician gambles with his life savings, to lose and die.
And the lost writer gambles with her and her husband's life savings to lose and not die.
(he only was about to hit the girlfriend as an ultimate answer !).The worst thing is when the character of that crippled dusty detective (Kelsey Grammar in one heck of a NOSE!), gives a voice-over speech as a finale, while saying forced aphorisms like "The human needs more..", and so.
So eventually while the movie provides some dramatic stories for some actors, hoping to be another Magnolia, or even Crash, it ends up as so poor and uneven.Kim Basinger has so limited capacities, some other actresses could have shined in her role.
Making any movie is a gamble.
But this movie's makers gambled good names in a losing game.
Like the title, this movie is has equal amounts of good & bad scenes.
First odd, this is a multi-part story,involving various types of gambling & the persons involved with gambling.The scenes involving Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger & Ray Liotta are the best, Forrest Whittaker & Nick Cannon scenes are almost as good, I could have had mess MUCH less of the ones with Jay Mohr & Tim Roth & Kelsey Grammar, Not they were bad, just not as interesting.Mark Rydel directed with his usual Flair, & production values was quite good, The film runs 113 LONG minutes, it could have been shorter.This film is another example of having a very short release in only a handful of theatres.Ratings **1.2 (out of 4)78 points (out of 1oo) 7 (out of 10).
Excellent Movie about Gambling.
Even with the clichés , this film did well to explore each character in great lengths.
The movie veered a little to Film Noir with some twists , I felt were unnecessary.
An entertaining film, good acting ensemble, moral lessons- What else can you ask ?.
Kim Basinger gives a wonderful performance here as a gambling addicted woman whose habit threatens to destroy her marriage.
She was far better here than her supporting Oscar performance years back for "LA Confidential."Nice to see Ray Liotta get away from his tough guy gangster image, and play of all things a college professor fed up with his wife's propensity to gamble.The film shows what gambling can do and ultimately it ties the entire cast of several people addicted to it, to a once in a life-time way to make a lot of money to see it only fall flat.Forest Whitaker plays a gambler shaving points and forced to get his younger brother to throw a major basketball game.
He acts often as if he is in pain.Danny DeVito does what he likes best in this film- the ability to con people.
He is off the wall here, but gives a good performance as the shrewd person.This story is basically about people trying to stay afloat despite their gambling addictions..
And had all the time in the world to watch the DVD with this movie.
But if a story is not difficult to follow, does that mean that the movie is bad or not good enough??
So when I watched this one, of course some movies like Haven or Crash or...., made all a slip entrance through my mind.