My Movie Journal is Better Than Yours

Notes History

Date Viewed	Venue	Note
05.04.07	Alamo Village	I'd like to say that the studio just didn't get it or couldn't figure out how to market this movie and that's why they held off on releasing it for like 4 years then dumped it out against the biggest movie of the summer... but that's not the case. Like pretty much every movie that gets delayed and delayed and delayed until you've all but forgotten about it then quietly sneaked into release and on to oblivion, it has some pretty major problems. For me, the biggest of those problems is Drew Barrymore's character. I don't even really think it's her fault, but every line she speaks reeks of lame device-y omniscient wisdom and it sounds terrible how she's always using poker terms in real life. But it's not just her. everything about the movie just doesn't come together. I wanted it to. I was really rooting for it. Moments are OK. But ultimately it doesn't work. Call it a misfire or bad luck or whatever... it's just not that good. But for as not good as it is, it also feels 4 years too late. There's all this stuff about how poker is changing and these new things happening like hole cameras on players' cards and online players winning tournaments that, maybe 4 years ago was still new and interesting, are now commonly accepted as part of the current trend and popularity. I really don't understand the studio move of holding a movie back for years and years. It's no better now than it was way back then. If anything it's worse. oh well.