There’s an unusual quality to Mississippi Grind; it keeps you thinking
that something major is going to happen, but it never does, really. Things just go along in the same way,
with nothing much changing—certainly not the two main characters. There are little surprises in the way
characters might react, but not in any significant way, and these are often
inconsistent with the reactors’ personality. Gerry (Mendelsohn) is a compulsive gambler and small town
crook in Iowa. He meets Curtis
(Reynolds) who is passing through town at a poker game. They strike up a friendship that is mystifying
since there doesn’t seem to be any meaningful connection between them. They both love gambling, but their
styles are different, and Curtis’s is much more mature. Lying does come easily for both,
though.
The very superstitious Gerry gets it into his
head that Curtis is his “lucky charm” and that the two of them should go on a
gambling trip together, so they head down the Mississippi River to New Orleans
for a big poker game, going through St. Louis and Memphis, taking a detour to
Little Rock, then when that doesn’t turn out so well, they continue on their
route to New Orleans. All the
while, we are privy to their winnings and losses (the latter mostly Gerry’s),
transitory relationships with women, and petty shenanigans.
About the only times the movie seems to have
substance is when the two men have heart-to-heart talks with Curtis trying to
talk sense into Gerry, and Gerry owning up to some of his failings. Brief scenes with an ex-wife and mother
do a good job in shedding light on how the two men came to be the way they are. It also paints a clear (sordid) picture
of gambling addiction, and how compelled those who have it the worst remain in
its thrall. They rely on magical
thinking, lie about their losses, and always believe that the next bet will be
the big win. Aptly, there is a
vivid rainbow scene in the opening frame, and rainbows crop up again from time
to time as a metaphor.
The strongest asset of the film is the acting
skill of Mendelsohn and Reynolds, the former capturing the sleaze and is the
epitome of a compulsive gambler and shyster and the latter smooth, charming,
and intelligent—but also prey to the gambling habit. Another strong point is the bluesy music (Scott Bomar) that
identifies place so exquisitely.
On the other hand, I felt that much of the
story simply doesn’t make sense, particularly why Curtis would stay with Gerry
for so long. Curtis is a drifter,
and clearly gets annoyed and impatient with Gerry, so what is there that makes
him loyal to him? Two unexpected
events at the end don’t make sense the way the story and the characters have
been drawn. They imply there has
been both vindication and rehabilitation, but there is nothing that has
happened before that would support either.
A tedious road movie with gamblers.
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