Two for the Money
Extremely niche topic for 2005 that is even more relevant now.
The production value was pretty much run of the mill for the mid-2000s - just basic all around. No major atmospheric intensity that I feel should be present in a gambling movie — like sure, the score swells up and gets loud when important stuff happens in the big game, but again, nothing special.
It was interesting to see how they tried to portray the manifestation of addiction throughout the movie. The biggest thing I picked up on were the delusional excuses they’d come up with to convince themselves into coming back.
Speaking of delusions… At many points there seemed to be a lot of inaccuracies through the film that got past the script’s quality control — mainly regarding the type of outrageous picks they were giving out — and after doing some brief research, that makes total sense, cause the <PERSON> character they based the script off of is a total fraud. Ain’t nobody going 12 for 12 with stupid ass parlays on a weekly basis like that lol.
The story goes is <PERSON> met the screenwriter when he caddied for him on a golf course. Then he told the story and pitched the movie. The writer loved the idea, and boom it’s history.
It seems that the filmmakers may have been duped by a guy whose track record hasn’t been proven to be the most honest. 471
Idk if they just took his word for it, or researched their picks from the past (either way both are likely falsified to some degree to make themselves look better).
The fact that the <PERSON> dude was still selling picks when this movie was made should tell you all you need to know about where he stands on the whole issue of roping in gambling addicts.
Even if the filmmakers were aware that the “true story” was majorly embellished they didn’t do a great job conveying it. If that’s not the case they were misinformed/misinforming about the reality of that handicapping business.
<PERSON> claims that <PERSON>’s character is based off him, but that’s also through the lens of <PERSON>, so I really wouldn’t know what to take from that.
If that’s the case they missed adding in a <PERSON> character — he knew all religions.
I guess that’s it. I really don’t know what to make of a this movie. As a dude who gambles I thought it was compelling. Can’t say much beyond that.
If you made it this far I’m sorry for the meandering and long review. If this doesn’t make sense or I’m missing info, I’m sorry. It’s past my bedtime. 86