Cold Deck (2015)

I don't know what to write. I don't know where to start. I'll start with this. I like a gamble. But Cold Deck is my new addiction. If you love a laugh out loud comedy. Cold Deck is definitely the hand for you!!Gather your tissues ladies and Gents. This is a ride not to be missed. It has everything. Over sized poker tables, bad guys wearing brown socks, Cheap one-liners, A bookie bedding Dame, High-octane action, a scratch card gone wrong, a good guy gone stupid, a living room turned Gambling racket and a very large Birthday cake. Mix it all together with that Mob boss from Goodfellas and you have your perfect comedy!! This flick is not just worth a watch, no! It's worth praying too! Enjoy responsibly.

A movie about poker which is not actually about poker. With a lead that is a brilliant poker player -- only he's not. This film wants to do everything, while succeeding at nearly nothing. The writing is mostly flaws, clichés and fraudulent ambitions. It's all there: the handsome lead, the pretty damsel, the goofy friend, the go-crazy villain with his trademark axe-musket (?), and a plot which tricks you into thinking is about cards, while it's all about plot holes, bad dialogues, scenes we've seen a thousand times before and, mainly, plot gimmicks failing at the start line.If this movie contains even a hint of authenticity, it's because of Paul Sorvino and Robert Knepper. Given the script they had to work with, they did the best they had.

I recently had the pleasure of screening a Canadian independent film called "Cold Deck". I must say that it is a definite recommend."Cold Deck" follows a down on his luck poker player who has time and time again come up short in his underground playing pursuits, so much so that he has wrecked his sick mother's bank account. In an effort to win back his losses, help his mother and leave the game for good, he takes the offer of a boss to completely unravel a high stakes, underground game with a can't lose plan.Initially, one would liken this to other high stakes card game films like "21" or "Rounders", but "Cold Deck" stands on its own, mostly due to lead actor and co-writer Stefano Gallo. His portrayal as the everyman is authentic and seemingly effortless. Often, an actor playing this type of character would be persuaded to overact or play with an unrealistic degree of intensity. Gallo does not succumb to that pressure. I was unfamiliar with his previous work before viewing this film, but I am definitely planning to seek out ways to watch his other performances.Gallo is aided by top talent Paul Sorvino, who fans will recognize from "Good Fellas", "Romeo + Juliet" and "Law & Order". Sorvino plays the character Chip, who offers Gallo's character a way to cash in with one last score. The writing is intelligent, the acting is superb and the drama and suspense is plentiful in this high stakes thriller. I definitely recommend anyone who is a fan of good movies to seek this one out.

I had to edit this review at my absolute disgust at the IMDb rating of 8 out of 10 given to this lacklustre, clichéd movie. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) got 8.3/10 -a masterpiece. It is disgraceful that people are blatantly lying on this website and falsely boosting the ratings to make people think this is some poker genre masterpiece. I have changed my rating to one, to express my annoyance. First off, I was pleased and thanked God this movie only ran for 80 minutes, it was an extremely flimsy attempt at cashing in on the whole poker genre.The story line was extremely weak with no substance. Similar to the movie The Gambler, we are introduced to a complete loser, a loser so bad, he steals his mother's life savings in order to play in a high stakes poker game. He loses of course to the owner of a gambling club where he has lost all his money. This guy (Paul Sorvino) wins $250,000 that night, is a rich man, but somehow persuades the loser to break into the game later and steal the $250,000 on offer, for which he will get $100,000. Are you getting this ? You take all the risk, break the law, risk getting killed or arrested and then after, hand over $150,000 to somebody who suggested you should do a robbery ! No sense at all. This loser has a smoking hot blonde babe girlfriend ,who loves him despite being a total loser, a mum who forgives him. A deceased dad who was a loser gambler as well. The finale was ridiculous in so many ways, somehow everyone dies, and he just escapes scot free from the situation in order to reform himself and suddenly decide to enrol in college and do a degree in electrical engineering or something. No questions about his debts, his mother's huge medical bills and nursing costs. No, just one big happy ending. Personally, I would have been happier to see the guy die. As before I give this movie 1/10 for the blatant lies of reviewers trying to boost this movies ratings.