Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Acting
Norton's wired chaos vs. Damon's cool calculation
Writing
Poker slang so authentic it became mandatory viewing for actual players
Direction
Dahl builds tension from nothing but cards and eye contact
Director
John Dahl
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Matt Damon and Edward Norton studied with professional poker players including Johnny Chan, who cameos in the film.
The film bombed theatrically but became a cult phenomenon after the 2003 poker boom, essentially creating the modern poker movie template.
US
