Russell Crowe wrote the script, and Stephen M. Coates wrote the story. Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth, and RZA are the stars.
Rating: 2/5
Russell Crowe is an actor, movie star, and director; he is not a billionaire, but he has probably been closer to a billionaire than most of us have. One can assume that kind of exposure influenced his portrayal of a tech billionaire in “Poker Face” who arranges an unconventional send-off for himself and poses as a would-be portrait painter.
Despite Crowe’s character’s intense anxiety, Jake Foley is experiencing, it doesn’t feel like one of his most virtuosic performances; instead, it has a cosy, lived-in vibe. or even a sensation. The emphasis of the term is that he doesn’t totally reveal himself. The film opens with Crowe’s early-teenage character riding his bike to the neighbourhood swimming hole with his best friend Drew. I might add, the neighbourhood AUSTRALIAN swimming hole. You know, one with a waterfall attached that is off the edge of a cliff. In any case, it’s there where young Jake and his pals learn how to play and win at cards. The scene begins with a bit of suspense before erupting into a “isn’t it fantastic to be young and thoughtless” celebration to the tune of Indoor Garden Party’s “Fight Another Day.”
We eventually learn the secret for the modern-day Foley’s success: monitoring software that evolved from computer games that Jake and his friends created. Because Jake visits Shaman Bill (Down Under film legend Jack Thompson), who talks to Jake about mortality and knocks him out with a kind of truth serum that will be crucial later, we also learn that Jake is getting ready to check out. After speaking with his teenage daughter and second wife (the previous one passed away in a car accident, as the truth serum montage showed), Jake goes to his opulent home and gives three of his old buddies the option of taking a million-dollar automobile or betting $5 million on a poker game. However, it’s not your typical poker game. One of the pals is a liar who has an unhealthily close relationship with a member of Jake’s family. The other is an extortion victim who is out to get Jake. The character portrayed by Liam Hemsworth is a suicidal addict. Hemsworth is about 26 years younger than Crowe, which makes them childhood best friends, but who’s counting? And Jake has the perfect remedy to force these people to confront reality.
A trio of armed thieves is on its way to the house to steal some of that art, but the previously discussed setup is also in effect. Foley and his friends soon find themselves in the panic room of the mansion, joined by a dependable assistant and Drew, who is now being played by RZA and is missing his Australian accent, but who’s counting? Armed simply with a single round in an automatic pistol (long story). They decide to wait out the evil guys who are more heavily equipped.
Oh no, the second wife and the teenage daughter suddenly appear. Both attention and action are required. “Poker Face,” a movie written by Crowe and Stephen M. Coates, tries to be many things in a commendably short amount of time. (It lasts an hour and 29 minutes, but the credits begin closer to an hour and 28 minutes.) Here, the drama of contemplating mortality, the riddle of retribution, and the thriller of captivity are all given a go. The Unified Theory of the Good or At Least Redeemable Billionaire completes the picture. “Poker Face” is both a lot and not that much, even if you can tell that Crowe is having fun with the camera angles in several situations.
