Mississippi Grind *** (2015, Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, Sienna Miller, Yvonne Landry, Alfre Woodard) – Movie Review

Ben Mendelsohn stars as 44-year old down-on-his-luck gambling addict Gerry desperately looking for the big win that will get him out of his financial and life mess. He’s a man who would stake his own grandmother to try to win a dollar.

Ryan Reynolds plays the charismatic younger poker player, Curtis, he meets one night in an Iowa casino along the way of his increasingly reckless quest to change his luck.

With Curtis cheerily agreeing to bankroll Gerry, the odd couple duo team up and set off on a poker road trip through the American South along the Mississippi, with visions of winning back what’s been lost.

Writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are very lucky to have Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds aboard. Their movie is good but the actors are superb. The film gets its winning streak by profiting most from concentrating hard and magnetically on the friendship of the two men, taking infectious delight in spending time together. These are heroic losers, Gerry stuck with his addiction, unable to commit to a decent life, Curtis unable to commit to his prostitute girlfriend Simone (Sienna Miller).

The odd couple buddy-buddy gambling film is thoroughly enjoyable, old fashioned in its Seventies feel kind of way. It has a bit of a thoughtful punch but doesn’t hit too hard, and gets by nicely on feeling real, truthful, amusing, flavourful and characterful.

Reynolds replaced Jake Gyllenhaal, who dropped out through scheduling conflicts. Reynolds’s commitment to small movies like this one is another notch in the belt of his credibilty. He could be a much bigger star, but seems to prefer smart work and keeping it real, like here. As I write this on 23 October 2015, it’s his 39th birthday. Happy birthday, Ryan Reynolds!

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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