An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Russell Crowe (he even directed the damned thing) and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so lame after all. I understand Crowe has now entered a phase in his career during which he just wants to do whatever he wants and doesn’t give a sh*t anymore about what everybody else might be thinking, good for him, but, seriously, what was the point in making this movie? It couldn’t be the money since he probably didn’t get much to do it and basically no one saw it when it was released but it couldn’t have been the abysmal story or concept either (was there an actual concept involved here actually?). Anyway, I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with poker and, with such a title, you might have expected to see plenty of playing action but you will be really disappointing since they only played for a short while after all. I guess the basic idea was to show that the main character was going through life as if it was some kind of poker game but I can’t say the end-result was deep whatsoever. Concerning the characters, none of them was interesting but the fact that they were not developed at all probably didn’t help either. Sure, Elsa Pataky is still really lovely but what was the point of her character who showed up for 10 mins to deal some cards and then completely disappeared afterwards? Eventually, even though ‘The Water Diviner’ was not a bad directorial debut, this sophomore effort was just abysmal and it seems that Crowe should just stick to acting. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was actually a waste of time and you should probably avoid it.