GetOut Magazine

Actors can’t cover the spread in tawdry gambling flick
By CRAIG OUTHIER
GET OUT

“Two for the Money,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Al Pacino in an epic duel of self-parody, is a familiar if uniquely unsubtle tale of manipulation and greed. It's a lobotomized, sports-themed version of “Wall Street.”

Following in Oliver Stone's footsteps, director D.J. Caruso brings us the story of a blue-collar innocent who moves to New York, gets a slick haircut and falls under the spell of an insidious capitalist Svengali who tries to mold him in his own image. “Everything's about money!” woofs betting guru Walter Abrams (Pacino) the moment we lay eyes on him.

As the country's leading sports prognosticator, Abrams — a recovering
gambling addict — makes money by telling his clients what sports teams to bet on and taking a cut of their winnings. And no one picks winners better than Brandon Lang (McConaughey), a former college football star who whines about the father who never loved him and still lives with his mother in Las Vegas.

So Abrams plucks Brandon out of 1-900-number obscurity, moves him into a luxury Manhattan apartment and christens him “John Anthony,” can't-miss spread-beating god. Naturally, Abrams — who exudes that weird satanic charisma that Pacino has cultivated since “The Devil's Advocate” (1997) — becomes something of a father figure to Brandon. Or is Brandon just a plaything, a Faust to Abrams' Mephisto?

Admittedly, there's something intriguing about the idea of a chronic gambler who uses people as surrogate poker chips, but screenwriter Dan Gilroy (“Freejack”) undermines his characters with clutter. Quite abruptly (and irrelevantly), Brandon loses his special gift, sending himself and Abrams into a tailspin. And why can't Brandon beat the Vegas spread anymore? Because he loses his childlike love for the game. Spare us.

Unfortunately, director Caruso — whose smokily satisfying noir mystery
“The Salton Sea” suggested a better follow-up than this — spares us little in “Two for the Money.” From McConaughey's painfully obvious voice-over to the pro forma soundtrack (Pacino is introduced to the tune of “Pusher Man”), Caruso has crafted one of the most tacky, tawdry movies in recent memory.

When one of Brandon's angry clients (Armand Assante) demonstrates his displeasure by relieving himself on our hero, the movie — quite perceptibly — is doing the same to us.

‘Two for the Money'
Starring: Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo
Rating: R (pervasive profanity, a scene of sexuality and a violent act)
Running time: 119 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday in Valley theaters
Grade: D