"Two great performances with your eyes glued on Mendelsohn and while you’ll appreciate a slow burn it was just too slow"

The last film which revolved around gambling with the Mark Wahlberg’s remake of the 1974 film The Gambler and previous films have portrayed gambling as a glamorous, whirlwind adventure. Lucky, Mississippi Grind stripped out all the glamour and delivers a raw and back to basic look into this addiction.

Convinced that his newfound friend Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) is a good-luck charm, gambling addict Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) takes the man on a road trip to a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans.

This film shows how talented Mendelsohn and Reynolds are, as you can’t take your eyes off them. It’s amazing how Mendelson isn’t the lead in more films as his performance is brilliant as Gerry is an unlikable character, but you want to root for him. While Reynolds is as charismatic as always but you can see depth in his character and over time see his true colours appear.

Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, who co – directed and co – wrote the film, give a brutal and raw portrayal of gambling addiction and did a brilliant job of compacting it into a road trip movie as well.

While it is a slow – burner and gave us time to know the characters and all their faults. It was just too slow for my liking and that take’s nothing away from the superb performances of Mendlesohn and Reynolds.

Verdict - Two great performances with your eyes glued on Mendelsohn and while you’ll appreciate a slow burn it was just too slow.