Plot: What’s it about?
To gamble is to take a chance; most of us do it without even knowing it. Hell, I take a gamble when I review a DVD that I’ve never seen before. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. “Two for the Money” explores the ever-so-growing world of sports gambling and does a great job of doing it. As his character says, “…it’s a 200 billion dollar a year industry” and when you consider that sports betting is illegal in 49 of the 50 states – that’s quite a lot of money moving around! Personally I’ve dabbled in a bit of sports betting and I came to one conclusion: the games I “meant” to bet on would have always netted me money and the games I actually managed to bet on resulted in the loss of my money. Keep your money, unless you know the stuff forwards and backwards it’s all a crap shoot!
In “Two for the Money” we meet Brandon Lang (Matthew McConaughey), a former college star quarterback who was sidelined at his bowl game with a career-ending injury (and they show this in one of the opening scenes and it’s quite graphic – you’ve been warned). Brandon won’t give up the dream, however, but after rejection letter after rejection letter he finally relocates to Las Vegas where he starts doing a 1-900 number recording for a sports betting service. His picks catch the eye of Walter Abrams (Al Pacino) who lives in New York and runs a successful sports “Tip” company. You see, it’s illegal to bet on games but they make picks so that their customers go to their bookies and the company, of course, gets a percentage of the winnings. Lang assumes the identity of John Anthony, a fictional person who quickly rises through the ranks of Abrams’ organization. Brandon gets carried away with the money and the power brought on by his innate ability to pick the winners. But how much will be enough?
“Two for the Money” is your typical “guy” movie. It has action, sex and enough testosterone for at least a room full of football fans. While it’s not something that will go down as being truly great, take it for what it’s worth – two hours of fun. Though I do have to say for a “guy” movie there are a few too many shots of a topless Matthew McConaughey, maybe they’re going after a different market? With the Super Bowl looming, Universal is banking that you’ll check out their release of “Two for the Money” and I do have to admit that it was fun to watch. Give it a rental before you double down and buy it.
Video: How does it look?
“Two for the Money” is shown in a rather wide 2.40:1 aspect ratio that looks great on DVD. Granted, more and more movies seem to be pushing the limits of the screen and I for one am happy about it. Fleshtones seems fairly warm and natural, though there are a few scenes that have them purposely muted. The majority of the movie takes place in New York and the scenes reflect the tone of the city. I saw no evidence of edge enhancement, artifacting or any other defect. This is a new to DVD title and it looks pretty damn good.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack packs quite a punch at times, but for the most part this is an action-packed movie that delivers what action-packed movies should – a good soundtrack. Dialogue is warm and clear with no hint of distortion and the surrounds do kick in at the appropriate times to add the extra “Oomph” that the soundtrack needs. Like the video, this is above average but nothing that stands out as being truly excellent. I enjoyed the soundtrack as well.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Director D.J. Caruso offers up a pretty informative track on the disc, complete with some handy information about the world of sports betting. Aside from that, the extras included are a making of featurette that tells why the actors were so attracted to their roles. There are also some deleted scenes with optional commentary as well as an interview with the “real” Brandon Lang. There’s also a trailer. “Two for the Money” will likely find new life on DVD, it’s a fun movie to watch and the technical aspects are above average with just enough supplements to warrant a purchase.
