Prof. Moriarty has sent us a double dose of delightful details of his thoughts on two upcoming cinema attractions, "The Rounders", and "Clay Pigeons".
Father Geek here has seen the new Matt Damon poker pic and I can tell you its
a real treat, reminded me of the old 1965 Steve McQueen film "The Cincinnati Kid" that Sam Peckinpah and Norman Jewison co-directed. I haven't seen this "other" Vince Vaughn movie yet so I'll leave it to the scurge of London to
Fill you in....

Hey, Head Geek...

"Moriarty" here.

I'm tired of toying with Holmes and his ilk, Harry. Slinking through
the shadows is no life for someone like me. I've decided that it's time
to step up my efforts to implement my Evil Master Plan To Save The World
(copyright 1998, all rights reserved). Much of my attention has been
focused on a piece of proprietary software designed to randomly generate
screenplays from any chosen genre (SF, horror, film noir, bad SNL
sketches turned features) that should allow me to replace all the hacks
in Hollywood in one fell swoop. Then again, based on some of the films
this town has barfed out recently, I think someone may have already
perfected such a program and named it "Akiva Goldsman."

In an effort to see what current filmmakers are bringing to the genre
table, I took it upon myself to see two new films this week. The first
of them is the upcoming CLAY PIGEONS, directed (and written, I assume,
since I saw it without credits) by newcomer David Dobkin. So far the
film is known primarily as "the other Vince Vaughn/Joaquin Phoenix
film." Having missed RETURN TO PARADISE, I can't compare the work they
did in the two films. Based on their work in this picture, though, I'd
say they have an easy chemistry.

So what is CLAY PIGEONS? Well, that's a question I'd like to ask to
Dobson himself, because I don't think he's really sure. Things get off
to an interesting start with Clay (Phoenix) and his buddy out drinking
beer and shooting guns. We learn that Clay has been screwing his
friend's wife, and his friend is now looking for a little payback. He
kills himself, making it look like murder and effectively framing Clay.

Clay isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he manages somehow to
cover his ass. The police write off the death as an accident, leaving
Clay in the clear. This also opens the way for Clay and his friend's
widow to continue their affair more openly, something she wants very
much. Clay is disgusted with himself, though, and tries to slip out of
it. When she gets nasty about what she wants, Clay ends up with another
dead body to dispose of.

Up to this point, the film is essentially a film noir piece, the kind of
dust bowl tough guy stuff that Jim Thompson used to do a thousand times
better in his sleep. Be warned... I'm about to indulge in some
spoilers. Everything before this point in the film seems to be one
genre, so it's odd when Lester Long (Vaughn) shows up. He's a
smooth-talking truck driving good ol' boy. He also just happens to be a
serial killer.

Oops! Did I give that away? Well, it's not like you won't know the
minute Vaughn shows up. It's not his fault. I'm sure he delivers the
performance that Dobkin wanted. It's just that there are no serial
killers out there like this. They only exist in movies. Impossibly
slick, able to charm anyone, free of any outward sign of their madness,
the Hollywood serial killer seems to exist only to play mind games with
innocent bystanders. In reality, of course, most of these men are
broken pathetic figures that spend their whole lives desperately trying
to imitate what they think of as "normal" behavior. These guys aren't
slick. They can't just appear and disappear at will (and always at the
exact right moment for maximum convenience). It's a construct of the
movies, and it's getting very, very old.

Now... having said that, this film is not without merit. Dobkin manages
to interject a fair amount of wit into what could otherwise by
impossibly grim. Part of that is the "aw, shucks" glee with which
Vaughn digs into his role. Another big part of it is Janeane Garafolo,
always appealing, as an FBI agent on Vaughn's trail. It's unfortunate
that both of them are more appealing than the film's lead. It throws
the whole film off-balance. The real potential of this pairing is
glimpsed in only one scene when Garafolo unknowingly buys Vaughn a drink
at a bar. For that moment, these characters lurch to life and CLAY
PIGEONS is almost a real movie.

By film's end, though, it's all sunk back into the quicksand of cliche,
mixing genres with an unsure hand, and we're left with nothing truly new
or memorable. It's just another serial killer film, just another film
noir wannabe. Part of the problem with these genres is that they're
tired, worn out. A few years back, John Dahl struggled to kickstart
noir with his one-two punch of THE LAST SEDUCTION and RED ROCK WEST.
While I've always felt both films were slightly overrated, they did
display a keen understanding of and affection for the genre. After that
splashy debut, though, Dahl stumbled by trying to do more of the same,
but on a larger scale.

It's because of this track record that I approached Dahl's new Miramax
release ROUNDERS with a certain amount of hesitation. I'd read the
script and enjoyed it, but wasn't sure Dahl was the right man for the
job. He has proven me delightfully wrong, though, by crafting a
supremely entertaining and confident film that leaves his earlier genre
work in the dust.

If I had to try and tie this film to a conventional genre, it's
ostensibly a crime picture. Or a buddy picture. Or an anti-buddy
picture. Or maybe it's a glimpse inside the underworld. Or maybe it's
somehow all of these things at once.

But wait, Moriarty! You just ripped CLAY PIGEONS for mixing and
matching. How can you praise ROUNDERS for doing the exact same thing?
First, I can do anything I want. I'm an Evil Genius, remember? More
importantly, it's all about skill. Dahl shows a sure hand with pace and
tone, always pulling exactly what's required out of each moment, never
rushing, never forcing it. These people feel real. The story unfolds
with skill and smarts. Above all else, ROUNDERS is every bit as honest
as CLAY PIGEONS is phony.

You can credit a fair amount of that to the cast. Matt Damon, in his
first starring role since GOOD WILL HUNTING, plays Mike, a law student
who is paying his way through school by playing poker. This isn't
nearly as risky as it sounds, though... not in the world where Mike
lives. He's a pro, able to read any table, any deck, any hand. At the
film's open, he takes his total savings, $30,000 (or "three stacks of
High Society," as he calls it) and buys into a high stakes game, trying
to raise his stake for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Instead,
he gets cleaned out completely by club owner and Russian gangster Teddy
KGB, played with a delicious sense of sleaze and thuggishness by John
Malkovich.

Devastated, Mike quits the life and dedicates himself to school. Knish,
played by John Turturro, rents Mike a vending machine supply truck to
use so that Mike can earn an honest living. This seems particularly
important to Mike's live-in girlfriend, played by Gretchen Mol. Mike is
able to walk the straight and narrow until the release from prison of
his best friend Worm.

Enter Edward Norton.

I really can't say enough good about this guy. He is magnetic raw
energy from the moment he appears onscreen. Some actors are good at
playing scummy. Norton vanishes into it. It's no contest between law
school and the life after Norton shows up, and Dahl and his writers
thankfully don't string us along. Of course Damon slips back into it.
How could he not? He's got a gift. Not playing for him is like not
flying for a bird. It is what he does, and Worm knows that. He
manipulates Damon back into the life, taking full advantage of his
friend in an effort to dig his own ass out of debt.

In some ways, I prefer the chemistry between Damon and Norton to the
chemistry that real-life friends Damon and Affleck had in GOOD WILL
HUNTING. Part of it is the slippery tension between the two of them.
There's trust, there's love, but there's danger, too, and that's what
makes it fun. These two should definitely work together again if the
right project comes along.

The rest of the supporting cast is very good. Malkovich, as mentioned,
is a standout. Turturro has one great, deeply human scene. Martin
Landau, as a judge who serves as both mentor and friend to Damon, gives
the movie its soul. He manages to invest his ten minutes of screentime
with real weight. Even Famke Jannsen makes an impression in a small
role.

If there is a weak link here, it's Gretchen Mol. Maybe you've seen her
on the cover of the new VANITY FAIR. She's cute as hell. She's also
being hyped as the next big thing. Based on her work here, I'm guessing
that's all it is -- hype. She does absolutely nothing here that any
other cute actress couldn't do. Maybe she's make more of an impression
as Leo DiCaprio's girlfriend in Woody Allen's CELEBRITY. If not, this
flavor of the month may turn out to be pure vanilla.

Anyway, Harry, the software's all installed, and there's already a
SF/buddy cop/DIE HARD in a swimming pool script with cute kids and a
talking gorilla spitting out of the printer. I've got one of my
henchmen dialing my agent already. I smell money on the wind, my man.
With that in mind...

"Moriarty" out.