Mississippi Grind: Blu-ray Review

Down-­on-­his-­luck gambler Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) and his hot-­-streak buddy Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) hit the road for New Orleans, on the hunt for the big payday. On riverboats and racetracks they chase women and thrills-before risking it all in the wager of their lives.

There are times when you see a film at face value and you think to yourself “Oh no, not this again”. I mean there have been so many “buddy gambling movies” out there and I think I’ve probably seen all of them. As the film started it was almost exactly like those other films with Gerry meeting Curtis and they come up with a big idea for a big score. On the outside it all seems so basic but the thing that kept me watching was the actual relationship between the two. I was very impressed at how good Mendelsohn and Reynolds played off of each other and had awesome chemistry on screen. One thing that I was majorly surprised about was the fact that Reynolds gets as much character development time as Mendelsohn which made the film even more interesting. It was kind of cool to get a little bit of insight on what influenced Curtis to become the person he was. Mendelsohn’s performance made me really feel bad for his character. He was essentially acting just like a drug addict and willing to do almost anything to get some cash for his next gamble. It was sad but it ultimately made me want to root for the character and hope that he turned himself around. The film had its predictable moments but I can say that I ended up really getting into this film a lot and couldn’t help but pull myself into the story. If you’re in the mood for an easy, non-complex kind of film with fantastic characters then you have to check this out. 7/10

Two of a Kind: On the Road with Mississippi Grind – A usual Behind The Scenes feature that includes clips from the film as well as cast and crew interviews.