This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Passing the Torch
Plot Overview
Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison), 21,
has just graduated magna cum laude—but not summa—from
a three-year college back east, away from parental scrutiny. He's
accepted an entry level position in his doting father (Gary Grubbs)'s
workplace in L.A. He'd
picked up poker in college as well, and he wins some money on-line
and proceeds to a TV tournament where he catches the eye of retired
gambler Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds.) They run into each other at
L.A. Racetrack & Casino and
set up a meet in Tommy's pad while Tommy's disapproving wife Helen (Maria
Mason) is away. Alex's dad is in the dark. They strike a deal whereby Tommy
will stake Alex and tutor him in return for half his winnings.
While on a jet-setting round of gambling,
Tommy notices Alex is overly shy around women, and he offers him
encouragement to chat up a “tall drink of water”
Michelle (Shannon Elizabeth) at a bar. He's surprisingly successful,
but this his first attempt is ultimately thwarted by circumstance.
Alex withdraws from their deal over it.
The rookie wins enough games to enter
the World Poker Tour (WPT)
Championship match at Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, and Tommy
comes out of poker retirement to be grandfathered in somehow.
They square off against each other in what ends up looking like shades
of “Kahlil Gibran, … a Maronite Christian influenced
by Islam and Sufism” (61–2):
Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs,
then you shall truly dance.
Ideology
Alex is at the tail end of dependency
on his folks; he's starting as a part time law clerk and awaiting
his first paycheck. Tommy has just retired from his job and is staying
home watching TV sports or accompanying his old friend Charlie (Charles
Durning) to the racetrack—just to watch. Tommy's wife
admonishes him that what they've got saved “has to last us the rest
of our lives.” She's gone to visit her sister, and while the
cat's away, the mice will play. These two boys are at opposite ends
of the earning ambit, on the borders respectively between need and
production, production and need. As such they are described by, (Prov. 30:15-16) “The horseleach
hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that
are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave;
and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and
the fire that saith not, It is enough.”
The grave always has room for one more, and while Tommy has nominally twenty to twenty-five years remaining, his wife economizes looking to book them third class on a cruise. Even after the womb stops bearing, those kids who came out still have to be taken care of for a while, in Alex's case into his college years.
“The earth that is not filled with water” is represented in this movie by the background song, Didn't It Rain. “Oh Yes, my Lord/ Didn't it rain/ Didn't it rain/ It rained forty days, forty nights without stoppin'.” Then the water from Noah's flood got absorbed into the ground. Now we've got these two gamers hitting the Desert Bloom Poker Classic at the Desert Bloom Casino in Vegas where the city literally bloomed out of the sand. Aerial shots depict all the money-making activity that's sprouted up in the desert, to cover domestic dependency demands or whatever.
Finally, there's “the fire that saith not, It is enough.”
This is human metabolism requiring all those mouths to be fed. Here
the fire must be stoked with rest periods so Alex is fresh for his
game. Tommy remarks that Alex spent a lot of energy on Michelle last
night, and Alex adds, “In the morning, too.” He's a
“real stallion,” that one. Life takes a lot of energy.
It comes from our food. Helen tells Tommy that their cruise serves
lobster 
one night. Tommy when asked by a cute
server, “What are you going to do with all that money?”
replies that he could take her to a fancy restaurant.
Production Values
“” (2008) was directed by Gil Cates Jr. Its screenplay was written by Gil Cates Jr. and Marc Weinstock. It stars Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison and Maria Mason. Harrison's performance as a supposed sparkling poker maven was rather lame. Reynolds succeeds admirably at playing a henpecked husband who's found his chops. Shannon Elizabeth displays range as the pretty woman who runs afoul of convention. Mason gives a subtle depiction of a woman trying to understand her man.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for language, sexual content and brief drug use. The background music livened it up some, poker being inherently a boring game. Its 1½ hour run time curtailed any serious instruction on poker, only some basics were explained. The camera was acrobatic but used no trick shots. Production was clearly low budget.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
This was a rather nice story about a young man coming of age entering the real world after college while an old man ages out into retirement. Its poker theme didn't offer all that much intellectual stimulation, but its brevity kept it from becoming boring. It didn't make me want to hit the tables, but the family conflicts were at the forefront to make one cautious. It would make a nice picture to while away a lazy afternoon.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: No action, slow horses, subdued adventure. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Wake up and smell the 1990s technology. Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quotation was taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
“Didn't It Rain.” Performed by John Boutte. Arranged by John Boutte. Courtesy of Boutte Works.
Gibran, Kahlil from Jon Stock. Dirty Little Secret. Copyright © 2012 by Jon Stock. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2013. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org