Curator Watchlist
A sharp, propulsive poker-crime drama with strong performances, especially from Edward Norton and John Malkovich, and a clean underdog-to-self-destruction energy that makes the stakes feel personal even when the plot gets pulpy. It’s not a masterpiece of depth, but it’s a highly watchable 1990s genre film with real… Read more
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 2h 1m
Director: John Dahl
Starring: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro
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.
John Dahl
Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro
A sharp, propulsive poker-crime drama with strong performances, especially from Edward Norton and John Malkovich, and a clean underdog-to-self-destruction energy that makes the stakes feel personal even when the plot gets pulpy. It’s not a masterpiece of depth, but it’s a highly watchable 1990s genre film with real style and momentum.
Rounders is one of those late-90s movies that turns a niche subculture into a full-blown pressure cooker. The poker scenes have real tension, but the film works just as well as a story about addiction, loyalty, and the way smart people talk themselves into bad decisions. Matt Damon plays the straight-arrow center effectively, but the movie keeps finding its spark in the chaos around him.
Edward Norton is the movie’s wild card, bringing a greasy charm that makes every scene feel slightly unstable. John Malkovich’s Teddy KGB is the kind of larger-than-life villain that could sink a lesser movie, but here he becomes part of the film’s off-kilter appeal. The dialogue is snappy, the atmosphere is smoky and nocturnal, and the whole thing moves with the confidence of a movie that knows exactly what kind of crowd-pleaser it wants to be.
It’s not especially profound, and some of the character beats are familiar, but the execution is strong enough to make the formula feel alive. If you like crime films that are more about nerve, rhythm, and personality than grand tragedy, this is an easy recommendation.
Patrick Willems (3.5★) · 1311 likes
The Mount Rushmore of truly deranged movie accents John Malkovich in RoundersDick Van Dyke in Mary PoppinsJared Leto in House of GucciJon Voight in Anaconda
David Sims (3★) · 1053 likes
there's five minutes in the middle here where Martin Landau's character talks about why he never became a rabbi when this basically becomes the greatest film of the 1990s
Josh Lewis (3★) · 971 likes
John Malkovich eating Oreos.
jess_ica (3★) · 839 likes
Ed Norton from Fight Club dressed as Brad Pitt from Fight Club.
ZaraGwen (3★) · 734 likes
I'm really glad Ben Affleck didn't show up like I kept thinking he would
A classic gambling drama that shares Rounders’ focus on skill, ego, and the psychology of high-stakes card play.
A polished con-artist caper with the same pleasure in strategy, bluffing, and watching smart people outplay each other.
One of the great gambling movies, looser and sadder than Rounders but equally attuned to compulsion and friendship.
A noirish descent into debt, desperation, and criminal obligation with a similarly bruised underworld feel.
A character-driven crime story about small-time schemes and the dream of one more score.
A slick, competitive study of gambling, mentorship, and ego that pairs well with Rounders’ game-room energy.
A sharp con-game thriller built on manipulation, confidence, and the thrill of being played.
A modern road movie about gambling addiction and male camaraderie that echoes Rounders’ restless, compulsive energy.
A stylish Las Vegas drama about luck, desperation, and the emotional cost of living on the edge.
A glossy, accessible gambling film that shares the appeal of watching a gifted outsider exploit a system.
A tense crime story about ordinary men making one bad choice after another, with a strong sense of moral unraveling.
Not a gambling film, but it shares Rounders’ obsession with risk, timing, and the adrenaline of high-stakes decision-making.
gambling addiction, male friendship, loyalty and betrayal, hustler culture, self-destruction, crime underworld, risk and obsession, identity and reinvention
crime drama, gambling, poker, hustler, addiction, 1990s, New York, moral compromise, male friendship, tense