VividSimon Simply Perfect

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Prismark10 Al Pacino continues his run of starring alongside a younger rising star. In Two for the Money he plays Walter Abrams, domineering, highly strung sports book adviser and former gambling addict with a dodgy heart.Matthew McConaughey plays Brandon Lang, a former American Footballer whose out of the game permanently due to a knee injury but has an instinctive ability to call the game and game-plays.Abrams takes Lang under his wing as his protégé, grooming him, shaping him, changing his clothes, style and even his name as Lang picks winners and attracts big time gamblers who bet more on more each week.The film itself is standard text of a sports drama film with first you see the coaching of the young star, then his swift rise to the top and then the catalyst that leads to a decline before the film heads for a finish.In this case Abrams refuses to share the wealth with Lang who is now attracting high rollers and Lang hits self destruct and starts to pick losers affecting the company and his clients who are losing big time. Of course from very early on from Pacino's full on performance as larger than life Abrams, this is a person you can never keep up with and he is in fact warned early on by Abrams's wife played by Rene Russo.Of course the biggest problem from the outset is that we see Pacino play these characters before and you see a trail already as where this film is going. Also we have to swallow just because a person has played the game, understands the game he can call the game. In that case, surely other footballers could do the same? Sports is based on many factors such as mistakes, slips, bad calls and incidents rather than pure skill from the other side, it what makes the game exciting and difficult to predict.So what starts as mildly interesting is as predictable as a tame roller coaster ride. Nothing too exciting but both leads have charm enough to keep you watching.

SnoopyStyle Six years after a career-ending injury, former college football player Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey) is doing little more than a phone service for gamblers. After some amazing success, he is lured to NY to join Walter Abrams (Al Pacino) in his business of gambling predictions. It's a fast talking adrenaline junkie's business and Walter's wife Toni (Rene Russo) tries to keep ever present dangers in check.The story isn't that exciting. The characters are questionable. The big takeaway is the acting. Matthew McConaughey is a master of this brash young guy. He works well with the master Al Pacino. Al has more intensity than the rest of the cast. And Rene Russo has that superior regal airs about her. The movie starts well, but it does slow down around the middle. It is just too long, and the second half gets quite tiresome. Maybe the Pacino intensity wore me out. At the end, I really didn't care about anybody in the movie.

wes-connors Las Vegas body-builder Matthew McConaughey (as Brandon Lang) finds his promising football career sidelined by a bum knee. But, he stays close to the sport by becoming a "predictor" for those interested in gambling on games. Mr. McConaughey's 80% success rate attracts the attention of professional gambling adviser Al Pacino (as Walter Abrams). Mr. Pacino admires McConaughey's muscular frame, and builds him into his right hand man. Their relationship is more "father/son" than romantic, however; and, Pacino is married to skinny ex-junkie Rene Russo (as Toni).In New York, McConaughey and Pacino proceed to handle the ups and downs in the business of football gambling advice. Jeremy Piven (as Jerry) is good, in a woefully underwritten role. The weirdest scene has wealthy Armand Assante (as Novian) straddling and urinating on McConaughey; you would think he would aim at Matthew's face, but maybe he was saving something for a possible second encounter? Also watch for the very arousing blonde Jamie King (as Alexandria) to appear in a restaurant, peddling her wares; later topless, she has brief and darkly lighted boudoir scene.***** Two for the Money (10/7/05) D.J. Caruso ~ Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Jeremy Piven

ray-280 We all know the sales pitches: some guy with a 900 number tells you he's hitting 82 percent on the year, and you can have his picks for this weekend for one "low" price (compared to what you win!). He'll even give you a free game to get you started, and if that game doesn't win, he'll call the guy he gave the other side to and sign him up instead.Two For The Money sanitized the sports **touting** industry (what this film is really about), and it glorified, by portraying as successful, what is at best a guy who had a winning year or two, something bound to happen when your phone banks have fifty guys.This film is based on a very true story, with the names and backstories only slightly changed. The "quarterback" Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughy) is based on someone certainly never known much as one, but who may have played the game. Not that this matters, as your tout customers don't care about your life story, only if you can win for them, and Lang delivers through his Vegas-based 900 number.New York tout king Walter Abrams, played in deliciously over-the-top fashion by Al Pacino, brings the over-the-top nature of the industry to life, not only the touts who make misleading claims (13-2 the last 15 means nothing and they don't tell you about the 2-13), but also the customers who demand the moon of guaranteed riches for a small fee. Renee Russo (Toni) gives her usually lame performance, like a double-digit NFL favorite mailing in a last-minute field goal to win.As a "public handicapper" (I do horses and I make no guarantees), I quickly found the film engaging, particularly its correct focus on how Lang handles the pressure of risking other people's money through his picks. Scam artist or not, any tout always wants his clients to win, because they will gladly pay him well and he'll know he's earned it. It's when the bad times come that the tout's world becomes a living hell, knowing he just sent his followers into the poorhouse, even though that's because they were risking too much to begin with.The other theme in the film is how Walter Abrams is always looking ahead to next Sunday as if he were just dropped out of the womb and nothing bad had ever happened to him. He knows that even the guys who curse him out will send him money again, and he will win again, sometimes, someday, hopefully, and at 1;00 every Sunday in the fall, the circus will start anew with him front and center, his business acumen saving him from his darker and more expensive urges. Sure, he's living on the edge, but he wouldn't have it any other way, because more than anything else, Walter Abrams was addicted to the thrills, while Brandon Lang was just looking for a job. The contrast is phenomenal and striking.