Two for the Money
Studio: Universal Pictures Distribution
Rated: R
Website: http://www.twoforthemoney.net/
Release Date: 2005-10-07
Cast: Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, Jeremy Piven
Director: D.J. Caruso
Screenwriter: Dan Gilroy
WorkNameSort: Two for the Money
Our Rating: 1.50
His college football career ended by a sickening injury, an insightful jock (Matthew McConaughey) takes a job manning a sports-phone line. Before long, his almost unnatural ability to pick weekly winners attracts the attention of a king tout (Al Pacino) on the lookout for a protégé; ensconced within the pro’s kingdom of ringing phones and bad infomercials, recruit McConaughey learns to maximize the value of a spiel and keep the hopelessly addicted gamblers calling back for more hot tips. Mere words cannot convey the unparalleled excitement of watching a grown man get trained to answer the phone, which is basically what this movie has in store for us in place of honest-to-goodness activity or a proper story arc. At least the stars seem to be having fun. McConaughey gets to grin like an idiot and flash his toned bod in gratuitous, fetishistic workout scenes. Pacino blusters foolishly. And Rene Russo whose face is unaccountably beginning to resemble Eric Stoltz’s in Mask exacerbates the movie’s lulling effect by convincing Pacino’s self-destructive character to lie down and rest his weary bones for a spell. After that, all bets (as they say) are off. Zzzzzzzzz.
This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2005.