Apparently,
Gerry never heard the old Kenny Rogers song. He is the sort of gambler you bet
against and feel fine about doing so. He might win for a while, because he
spends every spare moment studying various games of chance, but he reeks of
losing. However, he believes his fortunes have turned when he teams up with a younger,
luckier gambler in Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s Mississippi Grind, which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film
Festival.
Curtis
is just passing through. That’s what he does. Gerry really ought to be leaving
soon. He owes a lot of people a lot of money, but just keeps digging a bigger
hole for himself. Strangely enough, he wins when playing at Curtis’s table, but
he promptly blows all his takings on an ill-advised bet shortly thereafter.
When fate subsequently brings them together again, Gerry recognizes a good
thing. Determined to keep it going, Gerry convinces Curtis to join forces to
play regional games and hole-in-the-wall casinos as they work their way down
the Mississippi towards a high stakes poker game in New Orleans.
It
sounds like a winning proposition, but the “sign”-obsessed Gerry cannot change
his spots. He is still a crummy person and when Curtis is not around, he keeps
finding ways to lose. In contrast, Curtis might be slightly commitment-phobic,
but he is dramatically healthier than Gerry, often preferring to visit the
local blues club over a tacky gambling den. It is really quite considerate of
him, since it justifies Grind’s savory
blues soundtrack (and some original themes scored by Scott Bomar).
Although
Gerry, the aggressive screw-up, is the flashier role, Grind still might prove to be a career pivot for Ryan Reynolds. As
Curtis, he plays with and against his pretty-boy type-casting, showing
surprising grit down the stretch. Although Ben Mendelsohn is relatively
restrained compared to some of his scenery-chomping villainous turns, he fully
embraces Gerry’s pathetic, self-deluding, self-centered nature. Frankly,
sometimes it is painful to watch his debasement.
