When college quarterback Brandon Lang (McConaughey) suffers an Alan Smith style broken leg in the championship finals his promising football career comes to a abrupt end.
His fortunes soon change though when he receives a mysterious call from Walter Abrams (Pacino), the head of a million dollar gambling service, who wants to make use of Brandon's inside knowledge of the game.
Before long Brandon is earning millions for his new boss as he goes on an astonishing betting run that includes picking twelve winners out of twelve one weekend.
But then - surprise surprise - our man's luck runs out, as does Walter's patience, and Brandon must pick one more winner to save his job and eventually his life.
They say:
Total Film: "Gabby, glossy and schlocky, Two For The Money is a disposable drama that never quite picks a winner and ends up a losing proposition."
BBC Films: "It could have done more with its classic mentor/protégé format. Instead, we get steam filled shots of McConaughey working out and delivering supposedly charming one liners on how much he loves his mama."
Empire: "A preposterous, steroidal mess. Still, worth a look for another world class display of scenery chewing from Pacino, who refuses to let a little thing like an incoherent script stop him."
We say:
At one point Walter says "all Brandon does is work out and pick winners", which is rather ironic as after "The Wedding Planner" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" McConaughey seems only able to pick losers these days.
The combination of underground sports betting, exciting young director (DJ "The Shield" Caruso) and an A-list cast looks like it can't fail but, as the film labours to point out, there's no such thing as a safe bet.
A host of cliched dialogue ("You just want to get into my pants", "No I want to get into your mind"), stereotypical characters and a totally unsatisfactory conclusion make TFTM a complete waste of your eight quid. Even if you were to get two tickets for the money.
CAST
Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo,
Jeremy Piven, Jaime King, Armand Assante
DIRECTOR
DJ Caruso
TIME
122 mins
POSTED...
Mon 13 Mar 2006 at 1:55pm
