Two for the Money

[Amazon Link]
(paid link)
[4.0
stars] [IMDb Link]

Mrs. Salad and I agreed that this is a "guy flick", albeit without a lot of shooting, explosions, or car chases. Al Pacino plays Walter, the flamboyant and manipulative owner of a sports-betting tout firm. He takes Brandon, played by Matthew McConaughey, under his wing; Brandon has an uncanny talent at picking football winners. It's a very time-honored melodramatic plot of skyrocketing success planting its own seeds of inevitable destruction, can our heroes prevent their lives from crumbling into oblivion, etc. But it worked for me. We learn how the characters tick, we're interested in what's going to happen next. It's very funny in spots.

Has anyone ever noticed Al Pacino "vanishing into a role"? I don't think so. He's sure a lot of fun to watch, though.

Rene Russo, who plays Walter's wife Toni, is probably the best actress in the entire world to play a woman holding her own in a sea of testosterone. Check out her IMDB page, look at the guys she's starred with, and see if you don't agree.

The immortal Gedde Watanabe shows up early in the film, then inexplicably vanishes. Advice to filmmakers: if you're going to hire Gedde, don't waste him!


Last Modified 2024-02-03 8:02 AM EDT

URLs du Jour

2006-08-01

  • Southwest Airlines, Dunkin' Donuts, Bernie & Phyl's, Bob's Discount Furniture, Foxwoods, … sometimes it seems we here in New England see the same TV commercials over and over and over again. What we need is more slasher film parody gun store commercials like they have in Utah. (Via Clayton.)

  • Via Captain Carl: first, Accuweather reported an increased likelihood of a Northeast US hurricane this year; now CBS is chiming in. Folks in the area might think about checking NOAA's Hurricane Preparedness page.

    Don't mean to be a mother hen. But if you wind up on the TV news because you're one of the last-minute dorks searching the empty shelves at Wal-Mart for batteries and toilet paper, don't blame Pun Salad.

    As a tie-in to our previous item: NOAA's disaster supply kit does not list guns and ammo. In case you want to add that on.

    You can also peruse this year's hurricane names here; do any of them look like they have your number? "Killed by Hurricane Debby" is, I think, an epitaph that would score a 10.0 on the embarrassment scale.

  • A travel suggestion from Dave Barry:
    IF CASTRO, IN FACT, DIES...

    ...and you are the kind of person who likes REALLY wild street parties, you want to get to Miami now.

    And Drew Cline has an amusing picture on the same topic.

  • Arnold Zwicky examines the algorithm used at iTunes Music Store to asteriskize dirty words. With many, many, many unasterisked examples, so sensitive souls beware. (For sysadmin geeks: Arnold is Elizabeth's dad. A family with more than its share of smart and funny!)


Last Modified 2012-10-23 2:01 PM EDT