Two For the Money: Dramatic tension never quite fulfilled

Two for the Money
Starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey and Rene Russo; directed by D.J. Caruso
Rating: 2-1/2 stars (out of five)

Photo: Al Pacino is the gamblers' god in Two For the Money. (Universal Pictures)

Wall Street meets Las Vegas -- the middle of Vancouver -- in Two for the Money, a slick and stylish reel that attempts to recreate Al Pacino as the modern Gordon Gekko, with a post-millennial lump of pathos. Pacino plays Walter, a reformed gambling addict who's turned his destructive habit into a profitable advisory service for other players. Give Walter money, and he'll give you his expert picks on what's a lock for the weekend. Walter isn't allowed to gamble anymore, but when he brings in a young buck named Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey), he ends up taking the biggest risk of his life. Although it's hard to tell through the grease of Pacino's sweaty death grip on every scene, this is supposed to be Brandon's story -- given that he's the narrator, and the movie begins with the injury story that changed Brandon's life forever -- yet McConaughey doesn't quite have the same charisma as Pacino, despite his ample biceps and marble-ized abdominal muscles. Brandon isn't supposed to have too much power -- at least at the beginning of the movie -- because he's the student. Crafted according to the same Platonic rules of manly bonding that shaped Wall Street's relationship between protégé and mentor, Two for the Money features Brandon as the young buck learning from the master. Here, Brandon is a former football quarterback who suffers a career-ending knee injury in his final championship season. His entire life was dedicated to sports, and when his future is ripped from his hands, Brandon is forced to hang up his dream and work in a call centre. When he's reassigned the task of recording 1-900 information services -- such as the daily horoscopes and the movie listings -- he ends up offering his sports picks for the weekend. He's so good at what he does, he gets an invitation from Walter to join him in the Big Apple. Brandon's got an unnatural talent. He seems to have a crystal ball when it comes to sports prognostication. For him, there's no real secret to the process. He understands football, and he knows each team better than they know themselves. Once Walter gets a taste of what Brandon's got to give, he's hooked. He decides to build an empire around his bright young buck, who he has redubbed John Anthony -- the million-dollar man. Brandon's million-dollar makeover takes him from jeans and sweatshirts to tailored suits and an amped Mercedes sportscar. He's turning into a cocky son of a gun, and Walter loves every minute of it -- the only problem is, Brandon was a better picker than John Anthony. The million-dollar man is on the verge of going bust. Hubris and father-son dynamics are as old as Icarus, but they do get a fresh treatment in Two for the Money as director D.J. Caruso tries to bring lofty, epic sentiment to this rather predictable drama. To his credit, the movie looks great and the acting is earnest. All three leads, including Pacino, McConaughey and romantic interest Rene Russo, are stellar in their given roles. Yet, there's something off in this musty mix of rise-and-fall formula.

Part of the problem was pacing. Given the set-up, the movie felt as if it was driving towards one adrenaline-soaked climax, but it never really gets there. Sure, there's the "big game" day, but the dramatic pulse is already thready by the time we get there. The movie deflates before the final scenes. The loss is significant, because Two for the Money had the potential to be a smart, poignant movie about the personal cost of gambling addiction -- which is nothing if not a recipe for epic tragedy. Even Pacino's wide-eyed acting theatrics fit into the frame with a theme so steeped in emotional distress, as does McConaughey's self-absorbed brand of smarm. The key was bringing both these elements together in a meaningful way that suggested father-son tension. Caruso tries, and the script is there to back it up, but the connection between Brandon and Walter suffers from a lack of well-crafted moments between them. The gambling, and the corporate competition, become distractions instead of sub-plot supports to the larger story. Still, a well-acted and competent movie that puts gambling under the spotlight, Two for the Money isn't a complete write-off -- but it's not exactly a winner, either.- Reviewer: Catherine Mook