re: Rounders

It's an entertaining but painful flick.

Norton's character is so insufferable and such a cancer...that you know from mile 1, there's no good outcome with this relationship...Norton did a great job but I wish his character had been written more nuanced...that you had an inkling he was all messed up and just that...not a complete carpet bomb...

...I wish that the story had that tension. I know they play up that he went to prison and Damon thinks he's different now but that evaporated after two minutes...and then you have a schlub chasing an addict...I just sort of wish that realization was hard fought and occurred later in the film...at least for the audience...because we all know Norton's character is going to drag his butt down faster than quick sand and that sort of ruins the drama.

In essence, the movie could have worked better if it's leads were written more nuanced and the conflict and impending disaster wasn't so obvious right off the bat.

But that's not just a problem with this movie, it's a problem with all bad seed friendship movies. We've seen it many times before Rounders...I just wish they'd taken a different spin on it and made Norton's character more complicated than obvious foil.