Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Rounders Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 22, 2010

Nominated for Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, John Dahl's "Rounders" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc. In English, without optional subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Tough bets

I remember I had to see John Dahl’s Rounders twice to get all of the various poker references in it. I liked it the first time I saw it, and I liked it even more the second time around when I saw it with a friend. The film inspired me to do a little bit of research on Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan.

Mike (Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley), a law student, loses his savings in a poker game to Teddy KGB (John Malkovich, The Sheltering Sky), a Russian gangster who runs a profitable underground gambling club in New York City. He then promises his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol, An American Affair) that he would give up poker and refocus on his studies. Joey Knish (John Turturro, O Brother, Where Art Thou?), a good friend, gives him his truck and he begins working as a delivery man to pay his tuition fees.

Eventually, 'Worm' (Edward Norton, American History X), Mike’s best friend gets out of jail. 'Worm' is also a card player who has lost a lot. Unlike Mike, however, he owns plenty to various shady characters - which is why he almost immediately gets back to playing cards. Mike joins him.

Slowly but surely, things begin spinning out of control. First Mike’s girlfriend discovers that he has started playing cards again; then 'Worm' bumps into Grama (Michael Rispoli, Two Family House), a violent thug, who warns him that if he does not pay his debt on time, heads will start rolling; and then Mike and 'Worm' lose their entire bankroll to a group of not so friendly cops. ‘Worm’ realizes that there is no way out of this mess and decides to run away. Mike decides to stay and take care of his friend’s debt.

What I like about Rounders is the fact that it has characters that look and feel real. Many years ago, I knew a compulsive gambler who would act exactly like ‘Worm’ does throughout the film – he would put himself in the most ridiculous of situations and when people tried to help him he would use them to get himself into an even bigger mess. Eventually, even his best friends turned their backs on him. I moved to a different city and lost track of him.

I also knew someone like Mike, an intelligent person with a good heart who had some very strange friends. He wasn’t a law student but was working on an advanced degree at a prestigious university. He never graduated because his gambling addiction literally consumed him.

I also like the fact that style and substance are fairly well balanced in Rounders. The film has a gritty look and an attitude but never rubs them in - the jargon and various factual references are likely to inspire one to learn more about poker and gambling rather than dismiss them altogether.

Damon’s transformation is outstanding. It is easy to understand what motivates his character and why he cannot control his addiction. Norton is equally impressive as the loser who cannot stay out of trouble. Turturro also does a fine a job as Mike’s mentor. It is Malkovich, however, who gives Rounders an incredible boost - he is absolutely fantastic as the mad Russian who at the end of the film gets a dose of his own medicine.

Note: In 1998, Rounders was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it was nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion Award.

Rounders Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Dahl's Rounders arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.

This is a decent but somewhat inconsistent high-definition transfer. During the daylight scenes fine object detail is rather good, and clarity quite pleasing. Many of the indoor scenes, however, occasionally look soft. Contrast levels are not always consistent either. There are some fluctuations with the color-scheme - occasionally the reds, blues and blacks are quite overwhelming; the greens and yellows, however, look lovely. I noticed traces of mild edge-enhancement, mostly during the daylight scenes, and right before the finale, during Teddy KGB and Mike's decisive clash. Macroblocking, however, is not an issue of concern. There are traces of various mild noise corrections but none of them are overly distracting. Finally, occasionally tiny flecks pop up here and there, but large scratches, damage marks, or stains are nowhere to be seen. All in all, this Blu-ray disc certainly represents a decent upgrade over the SE DVD Miramax released in North America, but there is some room for improvement. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content. Please note that the disc does not have a standard menu).

Rounders Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Alliance have not provided optional English or French subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is rather good. The bass rarely comes alive but when it does it is quite effective, there is very little surround activity, and the high-frequencies are unproblematic. The dynamic amplitude is somewhat limited, but Christopher Young's score gets a serious boost - there is depth and clarity to it that are not present on the SDVD release of Rounders. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. I also did not detect any annoying pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

Rounders Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

Rounders Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Considering that in the U.S. the rights for Rounders are controlled by Miramax, I believe that it is rather easy to recommend this Canadian Blu-ray release courtesy of local distributors Alliance. The presentation is decent. The price tag is also quite attractive. RECOMMENDED.