| | | Life is a Gamble. How Much Are You Willing to Risk?
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, English, Spanish, Subtitled, Sensormatic
Even Money is a ferociously compelling drama that follows the lives of nine individuals as their fates become increasingly entwined in a web of addiction and gambling, culminating at one critical moment where their lives will be lost or reclaimed.In Even Money there are no safe places, no one is left untouched - gamblers are mothers, brothers, dreamers and lovers. As the narrative unravels, we come to understand that addiction has no loyalty to race, age or life circumstances. Addiction is random, wreaking havoc on those individuals who are drawn into its seductive world of quick fixes and escapism, to those unsuspecting souls who are caught in its devastating wake.
"Powerful performances! A compelling drama." Jeffrey Lyons, NBC's Reel Talk
"Kim Basinger gives one of her strongest performances..." Kyle Smith, New York Post
"A haunting look inside the world of gambling addiction...all of the performances are top-notch!" Larry King
"Strong and intelligent...a winning bet at the movies." Pete Hammond, Maxim
"Gripping and engaging! Crash via the gambling world." Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood
Editor's Note
Following in the tradition of such interweaving ensemble dramas as MAGNOLIA, CRASH, and TRAFFIC, EVEN MONEY features an all-star cast set in the world of addiction--to money, power, love, and gambling. Kim Basinger stars as Carolyn, a married woman having trouble writing her second book. Although she tells her husband, Tom (a compassionate Ray Liotta), that she is working in a nearby cafe, she is actually spending all her time--and the family money--gambling in a casino, where she is befriended by Walter (Danny DeVito, one of the film's producers), a lowlife magician who wants to recapture his old glory. Walter is desperate for the help of a local crime lord, the mysterious Ivan, but Ivan's right-hand man, the malicious Victor (Tim Roth), merely toys with Walter while coming down hard on Clyde (Forest Whitaker), a plumber who owes Victor a lot of dough. Victor is threatening to kill Clyde unless his brother, Darius (Nick Cannon), a college basketball star, starts shaving points in critical games. Meanwhile, Augie (Jay Mohr) and Murph (Grant Sullivan) are getting into the loan shark business themselves, not quite understanding how dangerous it can be. Looking over all of this is Detective Brunner (Kelsey Grammer), a grizzled old cop reminiscent of Captain Quinlan in Orson Welles's TOUCH OF EVIL. Written by first-time screenwriter Robert Tannen and directed by Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND, THE COWBOYS), EVEN MONEY is a complex drama with a fine cast, with Rydell bringing all the stories together in a wild finale.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Even Money - DVD Review By: Jarad I. Wilk - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 9/17/2007 10:13 PM | | Despite its dark overtone, the films brightest spot belongs to DeVito. He is likeable and loveable as a slight-of-hand magician, formerly known as the Amazing Abraham, who has aspirations of making it to the big stage once again. He's stuck performing tricks to anyone willing to give him a few bucks while they're having dinner. This character is loveable because he's not the brightest man, and doesn't have much in his life besides his magic ...read the full review |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 6/10/2008 |
| Running Time: 112 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2007 | | Catalog ID: 2246057 | | UPC: 00024543460572 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
|
| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times 7 of 10
"Crash," that execrable traffic jam of histrionic metaphor and presumptuous race commentary, was about as real as "Star Wars," but after its Oscar hosannas, an attack of the clones was inevitable. One of the first facsimiles out of the gate, Mark Rydell's "Even Money" is the most shameless, not least of which because it counts "Crash's" Bob Yari as one of its producers. The film's subject is not race but gambling, yet the cynical message is the same: We're all pathetic...At least the film isn't as rash and patronizing as "Crash," which could have benefited from the gifts of Tim Roth, who doesn't take the material very seriously. He chews a medium-rare steak with the same voraciousness he munches on the scenery, nervously breaking an incriminating CD with only one hand. This wild gesture becomes symbolic of the crushing effect the film has on its audience. - Ed Gonzalez
The Village Voice 8 of 10
Perhaps I'm still nursing the blowback burns of Smokin' Aces, but it was refreshing to see the casinos in Even Money presented as a dreary, bourgeois skid row. Unfortunately, that's about all this treatise on the perils of gambling has got in the freshness department, as Mark Rydell's impressive cast humps through debts induced and collected toward the big game, where various storylines converge. Kim Basinger is a blocked writer who lies to her husband (Ray Liotta) with alarming ease; having blown the family savings on the slots, she is in deeper than Forest Whitaker, though he's in more trouble--beholden to both his basketball star brother (Nick Cannon) and two bookies whose first resort is violence...The problem with ensemble films, and this one in particular, is that they often flit instead of float between story arcs. With deep lags in momentum, it is this lack of cohesion that nearly cancels out what can be great about ensemble films: the performances. - Michelle Orange
|
| |
|
|
|
