Popular reviews

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  Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★ 5

  Most horrifyingly stressful movie subgenres (for me)
  1. movies about eighth grade
  2. movies about gambling

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 3

  a sweet, shambling & *super* enjoyable Alexander Payne-esque buddy film about gambling with loneliness. Ben Mendelsohn owns... finally shows a meek side, confirms that he's one of today's best working actors. Bowden and Fleck make good on their potential after the bust of KIND OF A FUNNY STORY or whatever the shit that was called.

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  Review by CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️ ★★★ 2

  Looked up for this movie online but downloaded Mississippi Grindr by mistake and now I’m chained to a wall in a sex dungeon please send help.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★

  Totally engaging, even if it never transcends CALIFORNIA SPLIT FOR DUMMIES. News to nobody: Ben Mendelsohn.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★★½ 14

  Poker and gambling movies tends to imitate some of the rush of adrenaline that many feel while playing their way to certain success. But just like The Hustler, the characters don't do it for the excitement but because they are trapped in the game. No matter how hard they try, they simply can't escape the addiction. Because of it its understable a movie like this needs to move at a slower pace as audiences don't get, but need to feel the dry even when you think our leads are having fun. The pace is a result of the mentality and psyche of our characters.

  I wouldn't go and call this the gambling movie with the greatest cinematography ever, because I…

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  Review by I. Simon ★★★★★ 5

  A24 Ranked

  The most realistic depiction of gambling addiction to be found in a 2010s film, especially in how the film recognizes that even if/when a gambling addict finally pays off their debts, their addiction still stays with them, a huge reason for this being that many people form an addiction as a way of coping with loneliness, and also because of how capitalistic and exploitive the American gambling industry is. As already shown in HALF NELSON, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck not only fundamentally understand what it’s like to be an addict and how many become addicts to cope with loneliness, but they also fundamentally understand concept of addiction in itself, especially in how having an addiction is not only…

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  Review by ˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ ★★½

  just bros being bros

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  Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 10

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  "How much do you owe?"
  "A lot."
  "To who?"
  "Everyone."

  Addiction is a cycle, and Mississippi Grind is not optimistic about escaping the downward spiral.

  Gerry sits in his car, listening to an audiobook of Joe Navarro's 200 Poker Tells. He's meticulous, he's obsessive, and he's damn good at reading people. So maybe when he meets Curtis he should have known that something was up: he's a bit too friendly, too eager, too willing to throw his money away on a sad, quiet man he just met.

  But that's the thing, Gerry's greatest weakness is that he doesn't know when to quit. He always wants to make another bet. It's never enough for him—which is, of course, the essence of…

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  Review by Blain LaMotta ★★★★

  Is there anything Ben Mendelsohn can't do? He embodies each of his characters so thoroughly, that every creative decision he makes feels like the right one in every moment he is on screen. Truly one of the finest screen actors working today. Even someone like Ryan Reynolds knows he has to up his game when around him, because this is some of the best acting Reynolds has done. His charisma and effortless rapport with Mendelsohn make this a dual character study of sorts between two lovable losers that keeps on unearthing surprising new qualities the further we reach our anti-destination, for the journey is clearly the end game here. The flavorful locales we visit along the way builds an atmosphere…

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  Review by chavel ★★★½ 1

  Mississippi Grind is a loose remake of Robert Altman’s 1974 “California Split,” and it is the truest delivery of impressive filmmaking by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck since their 2006 debut masterpiece “Half Nelson” – they had coasted along on tiny slices of life since then with “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “Sugar,” okay movies but not much there (then after “Grind” they sold their hearts to Hollywood with “Captain Marvel” but that’s another story). Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds are gambling addicts whom both profess there are worse junkies than them (liars!) in this crackling, cogent character study of two hazard cases living on the edge. Mendelsohn, a gambler whose face droops as if the whole world…

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  Review by Maria ★★★½ 6

  In Mississippi Grind, two men, with nothing to lose and armed only with their luck, set out on a gambling-filled trip to a New Orleans poker game. Drawn to each other from their first meeting, the two realize they can have more fun together than alone and that each is the perfect opportunity for the other to run away from himself. But the cycle of winning and losing puts a strain on their initially easy-going friendship and their issues eventually catch up with them. Even before their lowest point is reached, their fun moments are set against the backdrop of their hardship, and every bet holds within it a lot more than a try of hand. The ending brings an…

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  Review by wmllmw ★★★★

  I like stories of people that are kinda down and out. Low-lifes, not to put it too harshly, but still good and well-meaning people. And when you have two terrific actors that can not only pull their own weight but work beautifully off one another, you're gonna find yourself having a damn good time watching this film.

  A very chill, bluesy kinda movie. I enjoyed it quite a bit. A lot, in fact.