Movie: John Dahl's Rounders (1998)
Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich Star in Poker Film Classic
Director John Dahl delivers the gambling action in Rounders, with Matt Damon as young poker stud Mike McDermott pursuing the life of a card player in the underground clubs of New York City. Mike is already a seasoned professional, telling the viewer at the beginning of the film:
"Listen. Here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker."
Rounders Screenplay
The genesis for Rounders began with Brian Koppelman, who got the idea for the screenplay following his first visit to a private poker club in New York City. After losing all of his $750 bankroll, an excited Koppelman phoned his friend, David Levien, at 2:30 in the morning, pointedly telling him: "We have to write a movie about this."
Lacking representation, the subsequent Koppelman/Levien screenplay made the rounds at nearly every agency, always coming back, rejected, with such comments as "overwritten," "this doesn't work" and "unbelievable." Rescued from a slush pile of unsolicited screenplays by eventual associate producer Tracy Falco, the script was finally brought to the attention of producer Ted Demme and Miramax International Films.
Rounders Poker Boot Camp
Rounders had a relatively brief shooting schedule, filmed from December 15, 1997, to the end of February 1998. Prior to going in front of the cameras, the principal cast members immersed themselves in a kind of poker boot camp, using professional players as coaches and advisors.
Michael Scelza served as overall poker technical consultant. David Blaine, the famous "street magician," personally coached Edward Norton on card handling tricks, including "card boomeranging" -- tossing a card into the air and having it return to the thrower's hand -- which Norton expertly demonstrates in the film.
Locations used in the movie included New York's Chinatown, the site of loan shark Grama's office; the now-defunct Billy's Topless Bar at 23rd and 6th Avenues; the Russian Turkish Steam Baths in Brooklyn; and Rahway Prison in New Jersey, whose exteriors served as the fictional Baldinger Correctional Facility.
Poker Players in New York City
Rounders opens in Mike's apartment, where the young law student gathers up the accouterments of his trade. There are hidden caches of money, poker chips, VHS card tournament tapes and several reference books, including Caro's Pro Poker Tells and the authoritative Super System.
Mike is a "rounder," one who frequents the underground poker clubs of New York City. At one such club, Chesterfield's, Mike takes on professional player Teddy KGB (John Malkovich) in a heads-up game of No Limit Texas Hold 'Em. The match proves to be a costly one, with Mike losing his entire $30,000 stash to Teddy's higher full house.
Mike eventually teams up with his old partner, Worm Murphy, who has just been released from prison. On the hook to a vicious loan shark named Grama (Michael Rispoli), the two hit the road in order to win $15,000 in five days. Mike is itching to play Teddy KGB once again, hoping to avenge his earlier loss.
Rounders Box Office
Made for $12 million, Rounders, which also features Martin Landau, Gretchen Mol and John Turturro, was first seen at Italy's Venice Film Festival on September 4, 1998. By early November of that year, the movie had grossed nearly $23 million. In time, Rounders became the cinematic anthem of professional poker, with many comparing it favorably to an earlier gambling movie classic, Robert Rossen's The Hustler (1961).
"Kid's got al-li-gator blood. Can't get rid of him," a heavily-accented Teddy KGB says of Mike during their match.
Rounders teems with "alligator blood," providing a strong, muscular ode to the fascinating world of underground poker.
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