Valley Star

Issue date: 10/12/05 Section: Valley Life

Media Credit: Dan Villasenor OLD DOG, OLD TRICKS - Al Pacino fails on bad habits in bankrupt "Two for the Money."

The word-of-mouth on "Two for the Money" was to expect the same old teacher/pupil Pacino flick. You know the kind - Pacino takes a younger, ambitious-type under his wing to ultimately teach him some grand lesson. Include a plot, presumably filled with all the same old clichés and high-volume rants that have become the trademark of Pacino's work and there you have it, right? Unfortunately, this proves to be the case. It's just a bad movie.

This time Pacino shares the screen with wannabe heartthrob Matthew McConaughey in a film that focuses on football, betting and the intricacies of gambling. Instead of living the dream of being a pro athlete, Brandon Lang (McConaughey), an ex-football player, resorts to employment at a 900 number giving tips on various subjects ranging from relationships to the stock market. After discovering that part of the network is related to sporting advice (primarily football), he learns he has a knack for picking the winners. Suddenly, Lang receives an offer he can't refuse from, you guessed it, Mr. Al Pacino himself. His name is Walter Abrams, the CEO of a fairly influential gambling network claiming to pick sports winners at high averages. Thus, enter the aforementioned teacher/pupil theme. Abrams has noticed that this kid has a gift, and the time has come to capitalize on it despite the many risks involved.

What ensues are all the same sort of remedial plot turns one may associate with a film such as this--nothing more, nothing less; Issues concerning success, failure, trust and the affect money and greed can have on people and those who get caught up in the aftermath that is left behind. Throw in the stereotypical intimidating hood-types and jealous losers, and what you've got is the same, tired formula, one that never delves any deeper than the surface. And what the film most desperately is lacking is another dimension to the characters and the world in which they are living. Instead it only touches upon all the same contrivances.

While Pacino can be amusing at times, he returns to the loud-mouthed shtick that we have grown to expect from him. It's just not nearly as entertaining as it used to be, perhaps because it has been done so many times before. McConaughey is always playing the same straight character; minus any sort of nuances that would set this role aside from any other he's played. Maybe girls will enjoy taking in his buffer body but that alone won't save this film.

The movie could have been a lot more interesting if it only would have gone a step further. Sadly, director D.J. Caruso never decides which direction to take. The introduction of Lang to this new world could have been explored much further. Screenwriter Dan Gilroy toyed with the idea of alter egos that could emerge in this type of setting but it never gathers any steam. And this also goes for Pacino's Abrams, who subjects us to constant lip-flap that never makes anyone want to know more about the character. Ultimately, Caruso seems determined to pour in as many different ideas and concepts as possible, rather than broadening or expanding a single one. All that remains is the teacher/pupil equation he started off with, but minus any grand lesson--Unless refraining from gambling some great moral.

Instead catch another one of the films that opened last weekend, because "Two for the Money" is simply not worth the gamble.

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