Mississippi Grind

— Who would have thought we needed another gambler flick, but this easy moving road trip and buddy film (DVD) is worthwhile thanks to Ben Mendelsohn’s still hopeful but slightly desperate appeal and Ryan Reynolds’ rakish charm. It moves along at a leisurely pace from the Midwest to the delta as the divorced and debt-ridden addict and his new, younger, and seemingly carefree friend form a bond and work on their own issues. While there’s something very appealing about the film, it’s not quite on a par with “The Hustler”, “California Split”, “The Cooler”, “Casino”, “Rounders”, and “The Sting”.

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[2015, 118 min., Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, and Yvonne Landry.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/magazine/the-perfect-predictability-of-gambling-movies.html