Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9754 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Synopsis
TWO FOR THE MONEY, featuring Al Pacino, Rene Russo, and Matthew McConaughey, provides a most unexpected twist in its thrilling tale of high rolling bookie cons and sports gamblers. Brandon Lang (McConaughey) stars as a college football great permanently downed by an irreparable injury. However, he discovers a second talent in predicting a game's winner and loser; a talent that makes him very attractive to Walter Abrams (Pacino), one of the country's leading sports betting consultants. Abrams takes on Lang as his protege, moving him to Manhattan and allowing him to grow used to the lavish lifestyle. But, the seemingly perfect father/son relationship gradually unravels as Lang loses his touch and Abrams seeks too much control. The ensuing action, enrapturing even Abrams' wife Toni (Russo), resolves in a stunning revelation of con after con, leaving viewers to wonder who to trust. Directed by D.J. Caruso (TAKING LIVES), TWO FOR THE MONEY is not the first time Al Pacino has played mentor to a protege. In similar films such as ANY GIVEN SUNDAY and SCENT OF A WOMAN, Pacino brings to bear the commandeering and charismatic personality that made him so great in THE GODFATHER and SCARFACE. The understated performances by the rest of the cast allow Pacino to shine, and to make believable Abrams' manipulation and Lang's naivete. Combining the intriguing and often illegal world of sports gambling with the solid story of con against con, TWO FOR THE MONEY makes for a satisfying thriller.

Customer Reviews

Mildly entertaining
Pacino is great as a gambling demon. I especially liked the touch when he goes to the gambling addicts' meeting and hands out his card . . . kind of like a boozer passing around a flask at an AA meeting(except this would not be a laugh riot).
This is a story about finding one's demon and tackling it and defeating it, or at least trying to. Any gambler would appreciate this film. It is well-paced, but not well-plotted.The main problem with the film is that there isn't nearly enough plot here to sustain its lengthy running time. The initial set-up is interesting enough but the film rapidly loses its way in the middle and ends up a horribly confused mess, with sub-plots and entire characters simply disappearing into thin air. In addition, the climax is badly written and incredibly unsatisfying.
Pacino steals the show: can you think of a movie where he doesn't? Lots of profanity . . . lots of laughs . . . this is mildly entertaining stuff.

McConaughey is good at playing these charismatic golden boy types, but the script gives him very little to work with and the director frequently resorts to shots of his naked torso in the hope that large numbers of women will have gone to see this movie.

Unsurprisingly, Pacino is in full-on Shouty Al mode and, if you're a fan of bad Pacino movies (The Recruit, The Devil's Advocate, etc) then there are some enjoyably shouty moments here.

Two for the money - i bet you'll like it !
Being an american sports fan who likes a flutter here and there i found this sports betting based drama pretty damn good.Based around a true story it tells of how a sporting tipster became a national television figure and a hero to the army of serious sports betters out there by having an almost unbelievable run of successfull predictions.
Pacino does what you'd expect and pretty much dominates the whole movie with a charismatic,if slightly over the top performance and delivers some great dialogue and choice one liners.McConaughey also delivers one of his best performances in recent times and Rene Russo is also fine if sadly looking a little old and gaunt these days.
But i guess if you are not a sports betting fan and don't have any knowledge of American football then you may be a bit bemused by some of the dialogue.
All in all a pretty decent and entertaining film with the origionl setting of sports betting making this quite a highly charged drama.

A poor man's version of Wall Street
I have to disagree with my fellow reviewer on this one. Whilst this film isn't amazing I found it entertaining nonetheless. You don't need to know anything about American Football to enjoy it, in fact in one scene Pacino's character explains to his six year old daughter enough whilst watching a game for me to understand the desired outcome.

As you would expect, Pacino is first class and McConaughey does a fine job too. They remind me of the characters Gordon Gekko and Bud Fox from Wall Street respectively, although the film is nowhere near as good as that `80s classic.