In the first scene, we see Mike throw caution to the wind, cashing in his skill chips for a wild reckless moment that ends in disaster. It has to, after all, since where else would the movie go if Mike attains his dreams in the first two minutes? But it's the overwhelming inevitability of this whole film that holds "Rounders" from greatness. Each ingredient in the plot leads with maddening logicality to the next one until you just want to scream "hurry up and get on with it!"

What is rather appealing about the film are the stylistic elements. Director John Dahl, who has shown a previous fondness for neo-noir seems to blend together the dark ponderousness of film noir with the glib optimism of Reagan-era cinema. The mix is interesting and somewhat effective. Much of the story, for example, is told through voice over as we witness Mike's life goes from control and order into the out of control madness of gambling. And the femme fatale, so necessary to film noir, is manifested as the compulsion to gamble, rather than a pair of legs and some sultry eyes.

Thrown into the noir mix is Worm, Mike's best friend and alter-ego. Worm lives on the edge. When we meet him he's in prison, and he has the bite or get bitten mentality. You know that worm is not only going to get badly bitten, but he's going to be the downfall of Mike as well. Then there's Jo, Mike's woman. She's blonde and wholesome: the symbol of all that is good. The best part of the movie is when Mike says bye bye to her. She is so nice she gave me a toothache.

Far more spicy is Teddy KGB; Mike's nemesis, played by John Malkovich. Unfortunately, Malkovich has to wrap his mouth around a thick and somewhat labored Russian accent which totally detracts from his own wonderful speech mechanism that was SO tantalizing in "Dangerous Liasons" Also most noted for its labored stodginess, is John Turturro's performance as Joey Knish. Finally, comes Martin Landau as Petrovsky, Mike's lawyer and link to the real world.

The Reagen-esque aspect of the film is that, unlike true noir, everything seems to end up happy, but does it? Perhaps one really interesting aspect of "Rounders" is the clash between happy ever after and noir that leaves more questions than it answers. The pacing of the film is rather like Prime time drama, you know exactly what will happen by the time, but the final moment, if not a surprise, at least leaves room for thought.