If you’ve seen California Split, Mississippi Grind will feel very familiar. The movie was clearly inspired by the 1974 drama, but although there are many similarities between the two stories, it is well worth watching.
Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) meet for the first time at a small poker tournament and exchange a few words at the table. Later on, they run into each other at a nearby bar as Gerry comes to celebrate his second-place finish and Curtis is already there, drinking and playing darts.
The two man quickly strike a friendship that’s based primarily on their love for gambling. However, Gerry is much more of a gambler, in debt up to his eyeballs, which Curtis finds out a bit later, when Gerry asks him to stake him for a gambling road trip ending with a big private poker game that Curtis had mentioned earlier.
For Gerry, this is his last option, as he’s working what feels like a dead-end job, and the people he owes money to are starting to squeeze him. Curtis agrees, in part for the adventure, and in part because he likes Gerry and wants to help him.
As the two get on a road, gambling at various places down the Mississippi River, their trip turns into a journey of discovery of sorts. Mississippi Grind may be a gambling and poker movie, but it is also much more than that.
Core Mississippi Grind Movie Details & Ratings
- Title: Mississippi Grind
- Year: 2015
- Directors: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
- Main cast: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Yvonne Landry
- Genre: Drama
- Duration: 105 min.
- Overall score: 9/10
| Criteria | Score (1-10) | Reviewer note |
| Poker Realism | 8/10 | Except for a few smaller details, poker games and hands depicted in a movie are very realistic. |
| Story & Writing | 8/10 | The story is clearly inspired by California Split, but although it’s not super-original, it is very well told. |
| Acting & Characters | 9/10 | Excellent performance by both Mendelsohn and Reynolds. |
| Poker Excitement Factor | 7/10 | Poker shown in the movie is fairly mundane and “boring,” but I’d say it makes the story better, not worse. |
| Entertainment value | 9/10 | It’s just a great movie, especially if you’re a Reynolds fan like yours truly. |
What We Loved About The Movie
There is something about poker movies that don’t try too hard in the poker department. The first game shown in the movie is a small local tournament with a $60 buy-in, and this movie is set in a contemporary period, so it’s actually just sixty bucks.
The people at the table and the conversation are exactly what you’d expect to come across in this type of environment, and even Curtis’s character blends right in. He stumbled upon this tournament with a bunch of locals and is eager to share his stories. They’re eager to listen, not because they necessarily trust him, but because these are new stories they haven’t heard before.
A few poker hands that we get to see play out are very realistic. In one, Gerry bluff catches with a weak top pair after missing his flush draw. In another, he loses with AJ to AQ after turning a boat, but his opponent rivers a queen for a better boat.
As far as poker goes, it’s all very relatable and simple. There are no one-in-a-million hands or James Bond-style bad beats.
Gerry’s character is a complex one. He is a decent poker player, but it does him no good. The reality is, he prefers to gamble on games where he has no edge, but the excitement is bigger. And it is a plight that many poker players experience.
Curtis is a gambler, too, but he is much different from Gerry. He seeks thrills and adventure, moving from one place to another, saying it’s “Machu Picchu time” every time he gets tired of one place.
Gerry is too far gone in his addiction to really enjoy the experience. He thinks that winning a lot of money will solve all his problems, but, by the end of the movie, he, as well as the viewing audience, realizes that this is not the case (even though this is pretty clear from the start).
Mississippi Grind simply rings true in so many of its segments, describing realities of poker and gambling from the perspective of an everyday person. It also shows a mix of characters one stands to encounter living a life like this, and avoids unnecessary glitz and glamour that so many moviemakers like to throw in when trying to depict a gambling world.
Shortcomings
It’s hard to find much wrong with Mississippi Grind. From the poker perspective, there is one moment when Gerry plays a massive, $20k+ pot in one of the games along the way, and, after that bad beat, tries to buy back in with $1,000.
This seems a little bit off, especially knowing that Curtis only agreed to stake him $2,000 for the entire trip, and Gerry doesn’t have much money of his own. That said, I’ve seen some big games with a relatively small buy-in, and people can certainly build up a big stack with a bit of luck, so it’s hard to call this a mistake.
Gerry never gets to sit in that big game, either, although he comes very close. This isn’t necessarily a shortcoming, as it underlines the fact that poker, despite all the time he spends learning it (listening to audio about poker tells all the time in his car), isn’t what excites Gerry.
From a poker fan’s point of view, though, it would be nice if the movie somehow squeezed in that big game as well, adding a couple of hands to the mix.
Final Verdict
Mississippi Grind is a movie definitely worth watching. It has a great story, excellent acting, and poker scenes that feel so simple and true to life that you’ll love them, especially if you’ve experienced these types of games yourself.
While I wouldn’t say that this is a feel-good movie, it won’t make you feel bad, either. The ending is neither happy nor sad. It’s simply the only one that truly makes sense.
Overall Score: 9/10
