Two For The Money
The world of sports gambling is a dark one, filled with desperate men betting their paychecks on the hopes of a team covering a spread. The men behind those men are sports handicappers, a quasi-legitimate business where they provide gamblers their winning picks for a nominal fee. These men rely on their success, but more importantly, they’re salesmen who will sell their clients the chance at success for simply taking their supposedly spot-on predictions. Two For The Money is a film that delves into that world of sports handicapping that claims to be based on a true story (although elements in the storyline make that hard to believe).
Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey) is a former all-american college quarterback who had his career ended by a freak knee injury in his final game. He finds himself working at a betting-advice hotline for pennies while trying to make a comeback and catch the eye of a professional team. His knowledge of the game has carried over to his gambling picks and he quickly realizes that he’s picking winners at a much higher rate than most professionals. This catches the eye of New York based Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), a fast talking handicapper with a national television show called The Sports Advisors. Abrams is smitten with Lang, and immediately offers him a high position at his company to the shagrin of some employees. The relationship molds into a father-son dynamic as Abrams morphs Lang into a slick-backed, smooth talking, arrogant persona named John Anthony.
From there, the movie moves down a path of deadend storylines and confusing analogies. The plot becomes predictable at times and ends in a climax that is so absurd it insults your intelligence. To spice up the seemingly mundane world of sports betting, director D.J. Caruso throws in high impact dialogues between the actors that never really entertain. There is little suspense and a lack of intrigue inside Two For the Money that will want you wanting more. The lone bright spots are a couple scenes that do charm, including a speech from Pacino’s character to a Gambler’s Anonymous meeting that hits home to any gambling addict.
The cast is star studded too, which makes the lack of quality surprising. Besides Pacino and McConaughey, there are roles for Renee Russo and Jeremy Pivens. Pivens character has the most intriguing storyline, but he’s cast off throughout the film as secondary. Despite the flaws of the movie, Pacino is great in his role as Walter Abrams. He borders on the manic side in a role that is similar to his portrayals in Devil’s Advocate and Any Given Sunday. Unfortunately, he’s teamed with McConaughe,y who may have a couple decent movies to his credit, but just can’t match up to an actor of such stature as Pacino. His flaws are more telling next to Pacino, and while he holds his own at times, just doesn’t seem to fit this role well.
For what it’s worth, this could have been a good topic for a film. Movies like Rounders showed that digging into the underbelly of the gambling world can provide an intense, dramatic storyline. But Two For The Money is just not a film like that, working off a bad script and actors that aren’t in the right roles. You’ll feel frustrated throughout the film and disappointed in the end. If you’re betting on a winner to rent, Two For The Money doesn’t cover the spread.
1 and a half out of 5 stars
Bonus: A mediocre offering from this DVD. There is commentary from director D.J. Caruso and writer Dan Gilroy, which doesn’t offer much. It would have been nice if they could have gotten Pacino of McConaughey to chime in. The real life Brandon Lang is featured in a sit down interview with Gilroy. Unfortunately, the interview doesn’t cover enough about gambling and the questions an outsider might have to this world. There is a ridiculous amount of time spent on the friendship between the two and how they actually met (which I really don’t care about). This could have been great if it was longer and focused more on Lang’s life. You’ll also find your standard “Making of” featurette along with deleted scenes (nothing important here) and theatrical trailer.
Netflix delivered this to me in one day.
