Mississipi Grind starts and ends with essentially the same piece of dialogue. It's not a particularly poignant piece of dialogue but the film manages to make the audience feel the weight of what is being said by the time the credits roll. With this film, co-writers-co-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden do for gambling what Paul Thomas Anderson did for porn in Boogie Nights. They make a thoroughly enjoyable film that takes an industry people seem to take for fun and strips all the goodwill out of the industry. This film takes gambling and makes it into the least seductive, most miserable activity ever. Like I said, the film itself is great and very enjoyable but after watching it, you may never want to gamble again. Smartly, this film paints gambling as one of the worst addictions. The two main characters can't accept winning and seem insistent on throwing away any luck they have. Also, unlike last year's The Gambler, this film thoroughly explains why people would have this issue.
The film follows Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) and Curtis (Ryan Reynolds), two men who meet in a casino and are shocked at the skill the other seems to have. On a whim, the two decide to go on a road trip together to explore the best gambling that they can find. However, both have problems with stopping once they get going. Gerry even seems to depend on getting money from other people while the money seems to mean nothing to Curtis.
What makes this film so great is the impeccable chemistry that Reynolds and Mendelsohn share. Instantly, they feel like two guys who are impressed with one another and want to spend an entire road trip together. Their banter is so good that you forget these two characters have just met and that makes the road trip fun for the audience even in the face of cripplingly sad moments.
I also loved the old fashioned nature of the film. This feels like it could have come out in the 1960's or 1970's. It's as if Robert Altman came back from the dead just to make this film. The soundtrack is even filled with folk songs from decades past which adds to the invigorating energy of the film.
I've always found Mendelsohn and Reynolds to be incredibly underrated actors and they prove why here. They are phenomenal and carry the light moments and the heavier moments with equal weight and skill. Boden and Fleck previously worked together on Sugar, Half Nelson and It's Kind Of A Funny Story, all films I have a strong fondness for. Add this one to that list. Although the film slows down only slighter towards the end, this is a film that knows about gambling and the problems with it but still manages to be a breezy, enjoyable road film. Even if you have no interest in gambling, it would be hard to dislike this film.
(4 and1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for language)
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