Rounders (1998 film)
| Rounders | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Dahl |
| Produced by | Joel Stillerman Ted Demme |
| Written by |
David Levien Brian Koppelman |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Christopher Young |
| Cinematography | Jean-Yves Escoffier |
| Edited by | Scott Chestnut |
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Production
company |
Spanky Pictures
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| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $22.9 million (United States) |
Rounders is a 1998 American drama film about the underground world of high-stakes poker, directed by John Dahl, and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The film follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a large debt. The term "rounder" refers to a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes cash games.
Rounders opened to mixed reviews and earned only a modest box office. With the growing popularity of Texas hold 'em and other poker games, the film became a cult hit.
Gifted poker player and law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) dreams of playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and sitting next to his idol Johnny Chan. Unfortunately, Mike loses his entire $30,000 bankroll after being outplayed in a hand of Texas hold'em against Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), a Russian mobster who runs an illegal underground poker room. Shaken, Mike decides to concentrate on law school while promising his girlfriend and fellow law student Jo (Gretchen Mol) that he will not play poker anymore. Mentor and fellow rounder Joey Knish (John Turturro) offers McDermott a part-time job driving a delivery truck to make ends meet.
Time passes and Mike stays true to his promise. He focuses on school and work until his childhood friend Lester "Worm" Murphy (Edward Norton) is released from prison. While Mike is a card player, Worm is a hustler who often cheats to win. He also owes an outstanding debt accumulated before his incarceration. While Mike looks down on Worm's cheating, Mike was involved in the activity that got Worm imprisoned. Worm protected him from consequence so Mike is fiercely loyal and always willing to help him out. Worm's old business partner, Grama, has now partnered with Teddy KGB and bought up his outstanding debt. At Worm's influence, Mike is soon rounding again, which interferes with his studies and hurts his relationship with Jo.
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Wikipedia