Poker Night

This film deserves more publicity than it is getting.. An impressive cast and a pretty good thriller in its own right.. The different stories that each cop puts forward on poker night are in itself pretty good. Each story is different in their own way and its really depicts how a legit detective team would handle the same case. The negatives that I have are really slight.. Maybe the plot could have been a bit more taut and focused on the killer a bit more. The acting is well handled.. I enjoyed the ending and I wish the team behind this all the best in their next venture. I went in without any expectations but the rating on IMDb (which I think it deserves at least a seven) and I liked it. If you are into thrillers, give it a try.

An intriguing story, told stylishly and in an interesting way.

Add to that a cast of character actors that everyone must enjoy watching, and this couldn't really go wrong.

Saying that, it was a bit messy early on, giving the distinct impression it was going to be a headache to stick with, style over substance perhaps.

I feared the worst, but it began to fall together nicely. Despite a nagging feeling it should have been even better given the premise, it was a good-looking and enjoyable film.

And I loved the killer's flashback to his old life. A funny interlude in a generally grim movie.

I'll look forward to the writer/director's future work.

Overall this is an interesting thriller to watch.

Its main problem is the weird narrative with the time moving back and forth while telling the story and while leaving "crucial" clues out for a later reveal.

Also there is this gimmick, where the main character (a young cop) takes the place on screen of his older colleagues who are trying through personal stories to transfer their wisdom to him.

You get the hang of it, but it is a risk and it may confuses many of the viewers.

The cast is good enough. It consists of actors who you have seen them lots of times in secondary roles. Nevertheless they do a good job around a poker table as veteran cops, telling stories.

The "solution" of what is happening it's presented in "key phrases" from the beginning so if you want to follow the movie and enjoy it I suggest to pay attention from the start! The man behind the mask it might fool you too!

Cop movies are nothing new, neither is terrorizing someone in a room. I thought the movie was gonna be a Saw meets cop movie sorta thing based on some reviews. gotta say though, this movie was way cooler than that. It reminded me of Guy Ritchie movies - tracking back an forward in time, funny surreal moments, people breaking fourth wall to explain things, characters switching places, etc.

The acting was solid and cinematography and editing were top notch. The beginning felt a tad weak, but i'm really splitting hairs here. They really got everything on the screen with this movie. I think if there's any real 'problem' with it is, it doesn't follow the typical arc people expect these days. More of an oblique 70's feel, where you don't have the satisfaction of a neat resolution or the hero doing the final heroic thing. But that's a good thing. It's unexpected.

All in all, it was actually one of the better movies I've seen this year. Hope it gets legs. It deserves it.

ridiculous, pretentious, unrealistic and unwatchable. the writer/director did a very stupid but at same time very formulaic mistake to box all the so-called cops to serve and protect the people in a indiana town. these cops under the keyboard of the writer became nothing but thugs and lowlifes, every word and sentence out of their mouth is Fxxk this or Fxxking that. they are more like addictive gamblers or gangbangers instead of well-trained, well-experienced cops. the screenplay's dialog seemed to have an intention to compete in a dirty-mouth contest among movies related to cops or gangsters. the young leading character did not convince me as a legit and believable detective; he's not even qualified to be in police uniform to patrol the street; a pretty handsome face but not a good enough, albeit a least talented actor. those who played the veteran cops in this film are not bad actors, but they were railroaded by the dialog to be just foul-mouthed guys all the time, sounded cool but turned out to be unwillingly forced to deliver their dialog. the culprit wearing a stupid and ridiculous mask in a very stupid drafted scenario and storyline, a tall skinny guy with long limbs and chicken neck. from the very beginning moment of his appearance, the movie was doomed and fatally to be a unbelievable farce. there's nothing right about this film but ridiculousness and pretentiousness.