Themes: Gambling, Faltering Friendships, Cons and Scams
Main Cast: Erik Palladino, James Earl Jones, Matthew Lillard, Ryan Reynolds, Dash Mihok
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A first feature from the man best known as the host of the hugely successful reality-TV series Survivor, Jeff Probst's twisty thriller is centered around the world of card-playing and con men. A street artist, Tepper (Erik Palladino), finds a wallet outside his apartment building one rainy New York night and phones a number he finds inside. He finds out it belongs to Avery Phillips (James Earl Jones) but notices it contains a lottery ticket worth six million dollars and foolishly tells his garrulous pal Fishman (Matthew Lillard). On the night of their poker game, two more men enter the equation: Quigley (Ryan Reynolds), a divorced sad-sack, and Bolan (Dash Mihok). After Tepper phones him, Avery decides to sit in on their game, unaware that Tepper has his winning lottery ticket. As their game progresses, Tepper's sense of ethics is put to the test, as are the loyalties of the men at the game. Robert Forster co-stars as a street cop thrown into the proceedings, and Carly Pope appears as Tepper's longtime girlfriend Carla. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Review
Anytime James Earl Jones gets a meaty role is cause for celebration, and in this low-key "small" movie (directed by the host of TV's Survivor series, Jeff Probst), the cagey veteran is surrounded by a tight ensemble working with a plausible script in a far-fetched situation. Consciously or not, some of the Survivor credo -- "outwit, outplay, outlast" -- is subtly incorporated into the plot to terrific effect. The gambling scenes are well handled and the kicker at the end is worth the wait. No one will vote Jeff Probst off the island, but Matthew Lillard's over-the-top obnoxious hothead has got to go. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
The film takes place over the course of a single evening. Tepper, played by Erik Palladino, finds a wallet on his way home from work. He contacts the owner of the wallet by telephone, and then later discovers that the wallet contains the winning ticket in a $6 million lottery.
Complications arise when Tepper's friends come over for their regular poker night. One of the conditions of the game is that everyone purchase a ticket for the lottery, to be thrown into the pot. The game is played as a freezeout, with the winner collecting all the tickets and any prizes they may be worth. When the owner of the wallet, played by James Earl Jones, arrives, he realizes that the winning ticket is in the pot, and stays to play in the game.
