Two For The Money (R)

How would you go about placing a sports bet? Do you research? Pick your favorite team? Study the stats? Call a hotline? Many of us are virtually clueless when it comes to sports betting, which is why the industry makes tens of billions of dollars a year on losing bets placed by die-hard fans and would-be winners. With all the elements to consider- team statistics, weather conditions, coaching styles, player injuries- how can anyone pick enough winners, and make enough money, to be a successful sports better?

Ask Brandon Lang. Or is it John Anthony? In the film directed by D.J. Caruso, “Two for the Money,” Matthew McConaughey plays Lang, an ex-college football player who is washed up after a bad knee injury. Working a bum job in Las Vegas as a 900 number sports handicapper, he’s better known for helping losers around town recover their weekend losses but never cashing in himself. However, that changes after a chance encounter with Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), a professional sports betting advisor living in Brooklyn. After Brandon goes 9-2 picking College Football one weekend, Walter gives him a job working for “Sports Advisors,” the premier sports betting service in the country.

Brandon is quickly captivated with Abrams, who becomes a father figure to him as he shows him the tricks of the trade. Picking winners…selling picks to multi-million dollar clients… It isn’t long before Brandon is making balls of cash, trading in his shorts and t-shirt for $1,000 suits and expensive sports cars. Out-picking even Walter’s most revered employees, he sees Brandon as the son he never had and someone to leave his empire to when he one day passes. He transforms Brandon into a walking/talking bet-picking machine named “John Anthony- The Million Dollar Man.” His rise to the top is swift and steady.

“Two for the Money” has some interesting dynamics, and, for a movie about sports betting, manages to go much deeper into exploring its character’s hopes, dreams…and skeletons. Pacino does a marvelous job playing Abrams, who is one cigarette away from a heart attack but still manages to fill his office with smoke at every turn. He becomes a father to Brandon (whose own father left when he was young), and Brandon gives Abrams the son he never had. Pacino’s Abrams is the kind of guy you’d like to meet- successful, ambitious, kind and never without a smile on his face. However, it’s a veneer he struggles to keep up. A recovering gambling addict, his life, and marriage to beautiful Toni (played by Renee Russo) is forever on the brink, just one bet away.

McConaughey often gets a bad rap, and it’s refreshing to see movies like this vindicate him. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past” and other romantic comedies line some of his more lackadaisical attempts and throw-a-way films. But he has shown that he can act…and quite well actually. His closing speech as Jake Brigance in 1996’s “A Time To Kill,” was heartbreaking and inspiring. Likewise, his out of the norm role as Fenton Meiks in 2001’s “Frailty” showed his ease and capability of playing dramatic and serious roles more than he is given credit for. And “Two For The Money” is no exception.

Lang’s progression from small town kid to NYC hotshot at the hands of McConaughey seems to take place effortlessly-so effortlessly, in fact, that we forget we’re watching it unfold before our eyes. His rise and fall is epic, and, at times, gut-wrenching. When he loses, his clients lose…big. As the real Brandon (Brandon Link- “Two For The Money” is based on a true events) states in an interview on the DVD, he ultimately had to walk away because “It’s a roller coaster ride. I had to walk away. I couldn’t handle people crying on the phone when I was on a 3-month losing streak.” The emotions are real- and the higher the betting stakes become, the more profound effect John Anthony’s wins, and losses, have on everyone around him.

While on the surface “Two For The Money” is a sports betting movie, it’s about more. It deals with real struggles, such as Brandon’s need for acceptance, and Walter’s need for a son. It deals with the ups and downs of friendship, business relations, and marriage. It’s a true rise-and-fall story; and while emotional, it’s not a tragic film. It’s a story of discovery. It takes winning big, and then losing, for Brandon to realize that what he loves most about the game…the love that brought him to sports betting in the first place, has been lost in his struggle to become the “Million Dollar Man.” But it might not be too late.

“Two For The Money” is likely to offer something for everyone. Pacino and McConaughey steal the show as the winning combo, and viewers get some interesting views on the elusive sports betting industry along the way. Supporting characters such as Renee Russo, Jeremy Piven, Armand Assante, and Carly Pope add life to the offices of “Sports Advisors” and give people on both sides of the industry a name and a face. It’s a movie I keep coming back to, and I think it’s because it message is one that we can all identify with. We grow up loving things…sports, music, art…and the reason for that love slips away after a while. Failure and becoming jaded can make us forget why we loved it in the first place. It takes something to bring us back. “Two For The Money” understands this. It helps us reconnect with that love and remember.

– by Mark Ziobro