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Movies / On DVD / Even Money
Even Money

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Even Money (2007)

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24 %
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Reviews Counted:33

Fresh:8

Rotten:25

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: Even Money is so obsessed with portraying the ills of gambling it forgets to develop compelling or likable characters.

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Following in the tradition of such interweaving ensemble dramas as MAGNOLIA, CRASH, and TRAFFIC, EVEN MONEY features an all-star cast set in the world of addiction--to money, power, love, and... Following in the tradition of such interweaving ensemble dramas as MAGNOLIA, CRASH, and TRAFFIC, EVEN MONEY features an all-star cast set in the world of addiction--to money, power, love, and gambling. Kim Basinger stars as Carolyn, a married woman having trouble writing her second book. Although she tells her husband, Tom (a compassionate Ray Liotta), that she is working in a nearby cafe, she is actually spending all her time--and the family money--gambling in a casino, where she is befriended by Walter (Danny DeVito, one of the film's producers), a lowlife magician who wants to recapture his old glory. Walter is desperate for the help of a local crime lord, the mysterious Ivan, but Ivan's right-hand man, the malicious Victor (Tim Roth), merely toys with Walter while coming down hard on Clyde (Forest Whitaker), a plumber who owes Victor a lot of dough. Victor is threatening to kill Clyde unless his brother, Darius (Nick Cannon), a college basketball star, starts shaving points in critical games. Meanwhile, Augie (Jay Mohr) and Murph (Grant Sullivan) are getting into the loan shark business themselves, not quite understanding how dangerous it can be. Looking over all of this is Detective Brunner (Kelsey Grammer), a grizzled old cop reminiscent of Captain Quinlan in Orson Welles's TOUCH OF EVIL. Written by first-time screenwriter Robert Tannen and directed by Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND, THE COWBOYS), EVEN MONEY is a complex drama with a fine cast, with Rydell bringing all the stories together in a wild finale. [More]

Starring: Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Kelsey Grammer, Nick Cannon

Starring: Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Kelsey Grammer, Nick Cannon, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker, Jay Mohr, Tim Roth, Carla Gugino

Director: Mark Rydell

Director: Mark Rydell
Screenwriter: Robert Tannen
Producer: Mark Rydell, Danny DeVito, Bob Yari, David S. Greenhouse
Composer: Dave Grusin
Studio: Yari Film Group

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Reviews for Even Money

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
06/02/07
Dallas Morning News
N/R

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Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
06/20/07
Denver Post
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
08/30/07
Boxoffice Magazine

Ambitious as it is, Even Money truly succeeds as a gripping story about our urge to want more; more love, or more money, or just more life

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/25/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

Director Mark Rydell is often good at evoking the desperation and superstitious hope that's a big part of the gaming spirit. This is nothing new, either, but it's enough to keep the movie intriguing enough to watch.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
05/18/07
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Basinger screws up her face in angsty constipation, playing the slots… Like. She. Really. Means. It.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
05/18/07
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
FilmStew.com

most watchers will likely be too depressed to muster much sympathy for Even Money's downtrodden losers.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/15/07
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Tannen's script dances with ridiculous one too many times.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/25/07
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

This crime drama doesn't push any envelopes but delivers a smart package to more demanding filmgoers.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
05/18/07
Doris Toumarkine
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International

The story is scarcely grounded in the mechanics of real-world expression.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/18/07
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Yeah, we know that gambling is bad. That doesn't mean one needs to make, let alone sit through, a poorly conceptualized movie to realize it.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
05/18/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Strong character actors (Whitaker, DeVito, Tim Roth) crap out in vet helmer Mark Rydell's middling drama that can't decide if it's a pulpu crime noir or a moralistic piece about the evils of gambiling addiction.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
05/11/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

It's all so ham-fisted and clumsy, a movie whose agenda looms heavily over the proceedings.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
04/03/06
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Because of the 1985 Ryan O'Neal fiasco, Fever Pitch, Even Money doesn't have the distinction of being the worst film about gambling ever made. Then again, second place is also the first loser.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/20/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

To co-opt gambling addiction, which has roots far more complex than 'what we're willing to put on the line,' into the service of such facile moralizing seems tasteless.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
05/19/07
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

A downer all the way, Even Money makes for dandy entertainment -- the perfect antidote to anything inspired by Hallmark that’s sent our way this year.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
05/08/07
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

If you're looking for entertainment, save your 10 bucks for the lottery.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/18/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News

Shouldn't an overwrought drama about the life-shattering effects of gambling addiction make some effort, before delivering its moral, to show why people gamble in the first place?

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
03/19/06
John DeFore
John DeFore
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even Money never quite achieves [Crash's] epic badness -- but Kim Basinger’s mortifying turn as the struggling writer is hysterical in every sense of the word.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
05/19/07
Joshua Land
Joshua Land
Time Out New York

Um, gambling's bad, mkay?

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
05/31/07
Kerry Lengel
Kerry Lengel
Arizona Republic
 
 
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