The poker movie genre hasn't been too active lately. In 2017, Molly's Game entertained us with a brilliant cast, realism, and loads of tension. Then came Russel Crowe's Poker Face in 2022, which used poker to add mystique, but barely showed any.
As we wait for the fabled Rounders 2, a movie like Dead Money should hold us over. The trailer promised tension like Uncut Gems, with the poker-focus on top. When it hit streaming services on the 13th of September, the community was excited to see Hollywood attempt another poker movie. We shared similar hopes when we looked at the film, pre-release.
Now, let's hear what people are saying about Dead Money post-release.
Reviews for Dead Money Flood In
It hasn't been long since release, but Dead Money was quickly available on streaming platforms like Amazon. Initial reviews were mixed, containing some satisfied viewers among the disappointed ones.
It's still early days for Dead Money, but the Rotten Tomato bunch aren't calling for Oscars. The film is scoring 25% on the Tomatometer, with a 5.3/10 rating as of mid-October.
"Director Luc Walpoth plays on genre cliches to build some slick, edgy tension. But the meandering plot and fuzzy point of view make it difficult to stay involved."
– Rich Cline, member of the Online Film Critics Society
Some movie critics on Rotten Tomato pointed to the plot of Dead Money, saying it was a "generic revenge saga" that "meandered" along. However, there were no scathing remarks, as the movie's flaws are not egregious. Instead, many critics noted a lack of uniqueness and little-to-no departure from the mould.
"It isn’t necessarily a bad movie, just a mediocre one that only reminds you of all the better films it aspires to be like."
– Peter Sobczynski (Tomatometer-approved critic)
"Dead Money is a poker term which refers to foolish card players who have virtually no chance of winning," Todd Jorgenson of Cinemalogue explained. "What's meant to be a clever film title falls flat when the audience watching ends up being the big losers."
Despite being a poker movie and revolving its scenes around poker paraphernalia, Dead Money appears to use the game as mild plot seasoning. On the plus side, the audience sees poker in a form nowhere near as ridiculous as it is in Casino Royale or In Time. Unfortunately, realism doesn't necessarily redeem, in this case. As another critic put it, the games (and script) is "slick but shallow." You may want to see realistic poker, but it must entertain too.
The same critic, (Peter Sobczynski) had more choice words for Dead Money's depth.
"Josh Wilcox’s screenplay covers the bases regarding the surface details but doesn’t do much anything else of interest. This leaves us watching a bunch of dumb people doing dumb things, while occasionally offering up lovingly detailed narration about the intricacies of poker."
Twitter Paints a Different Picture of Dead Money
What do the critics know anyway? Players and audience members had positive things to share on Twitter, including Joe Stapleton, the most memorable voice in poker.
"Me and James Hartigan did, in fact, watch Dead Money and we did, in fact, enjoy it very much! Six bags of popcorn. 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿"
And, a few weeks before an unprecedented scandal surrounded his poker stream, Ryan Feldman gave his praise to Dead Money.
"Just finished watching Dead Money. The new poker movie w/ Emile Hirsch.
I was very impressed. Such a good movie. So intense. Be prepared, it’s very violent. The poker parts were very well-written and realistic. Gives a good glimpse at the potential dark side of private games."
But, it was broadcaster Norman Chad's tweet that got the most engagement and also showed the most disappointment.
I paid $6.99 to watch 'DEAD MONEY' on YouTube so you don't have to.
A fair price would've been $2.19.
Here is what you need to know:
- We get an 'all in and a call' 75 seconds in.
- There's guns and there's gambling and there's golf.
- A beverage spills on the shuffle machine.
- Alan Keating is in two scenes but does not speak.
- My favorite line of bad dialogue: "That was some GTO robot crap right there."
- Someone possibly cheats in the big game.
- It's easier to watch than 'UNCUT GEMS.'
- 'DEAD MONEY' is dead money, albeit mildly entertaining.
Mike O'Malley asked, "On a scale of 1 – Savage, was it as bad as Lucky You?"
"Let me put it this way," Norman replied. "The only thing that might've made it worse is if Savage were in it."
To Emile Hirsch's credit, it does seem that he immersed himself in the role.
Leading up to the movie, he appeared on Hustler Casino and made a profit of almost $18,000 after the 7-hour session. There were a few live-poker beginner moments, but that's still a fantastic result.
He also watched Daniel Negreanu's full MasterClass and created a painting specifically for Alan Keating, who appeared in the movie.
From the audience and critic's reactions to Dead Money, you have some idea of what to expect. Perhaps it isn't going to hit the cult-status of Rounders, but it could be an entertaining movie for next weekend.
