Das schnelle Geld (2005)

Das schnelle Geld: Directed by D.J. Caruso. With Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante. After suffering a career-ending knee injury, a former college football star aligns himself with one of the most renowned touts in the sports-gambling business.

“Two for the Money is a decent, diverting picture. The material at times seems a little beneath these fine actors, but the film ends up hitting enough of the right notes to make it worth seeing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMatthew McConaughey would seem a little out of his league on the same screen with Al Pacino and Rene Russo. By the end of the film, you will most likely feel that heu0026#39;s more than held his own, however. McConaughey plays a former college football star who sees his chances of a professional career destroyed by a serious injury. He quickly finds himself picking college football games for a low-rent betting line. With all of his past experience as a player, he does quite well with it. Well enough to attract the attention of Al Pacino, who runs a more up-scale operation in New York. By the end of the first half hour, McConaughey is picking all kinds of football winners, and making Pacino a ton of money. As you would expect, this success does not last very long as various egos spiral out of control and the betting gods turn on our heroes as they eventually do to all of us. The film is more of a character study about the minds of gamblers and lost identity than it is about the workings of an actual betting organization. Overall, it works on a couple different levels.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePacino is fine, but not as out of control as you might hope. His character has a bad heart, so any typical Pacino tantrums are not really in order for him. He brings as much dignity as one could to the role of an addicted gambler, though. Rene Russo is terrific as his long-suffering wife and a former junkie. Pacino at some points seems to be trying to lose her to McConaughey. He being one of those terribly afflicted gamblers who only feels alive when heu0026#39;s just lost everything he wagered. The supporting cast is pretty good, too. Jeremy Piven is always appreciated, and so is the appearance by Armand Assante.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe best scene in the film takes place at a betting support group meeting that Pacino and his new protégé walk in on. Pacino, being a hopeless gambler himself shows empathy toward these degenerates, then has the nerve to pass out his business card to them!!! The logic I guess being that if you people have to lose, you might as well do it through a fellow degenerate gambler.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe biggest flaw I noticed was too many shots of McConaughey without his shirt on. Yes, the guy has great abs, but we donu0026#39;t need to see so much of them!! Overall this is a good film with some interesting things to say about people who bet. Notice how in the end, the u0026quot;expertsu0026quot; are really just like the guys they take calls from. During the big games, weu0026#39;re all just sitting there with a beer in our hand, hanging by every first down or dropped ball.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e7 of 10 stars.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Hound.”