This film is inherently a buddy film, á la Planes, Trains And Automobiles, but with a gambling addiction at the core of it. The part of the film which could have easily been it's downside is the way it deals with the main character's addiction: luckily, it deals with addiction without getting grating, or dissolving into an overly obvious downward spiral.

This is a character-driven film in it's purest sense. The script is extremely well-written, the plot unpredictable as it depends entirely on the characters and their actions, which do not always have clear motives. Of course, with any character-driven film, then the actors to play the characters are of utmost importance. Luckily, directors Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (Half Nelson, It's Kind Of A Funny Story) land Ben Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds. Ryan Reynolds is a good actor caught up in Hollywood,with far more ability than he uses in clichéd rom-coms/action flicks. Ben Mendelsohn, however, is the single most underrated English-speaking actor currently working. The man is a chameleon.

In this film, Mendelsohn plays a man named Gerry, a man who likes to gamble a bit too much - so much that he functions on constant superstition. The first shot of the film is of a spectacular rainbow. Later, we learn that Gerry saw this rainbow and talks about it while playing poker. As time goes on, anything that fits the equation of rainbow+gambling=good luck, he goes with. While desperately trying to convince Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) to bet on a horse, he explains that the horse's name is Toto - Dorothy, rainbows, it must be the one. The film demonstrates eloquently by implication that Gerry is a person who takes little to no responsibility for his actions, deciding to deludedly attribute his good or bad luck to just that - luck.

Curtis is more of an enigma, a suspiciously nice guy who is also good with the ladies. The question of who is using who runs through the film, as each man shows his flaws. Ryan Reynolds puts in an excellent shift, reacting and playing a great foil to Mendelsohn's incredible physical and emotional acting.

The soundtrack is great for setting the tone of the film, as well as constructing the cultural and geographic landscape of Mississippi Grind - it positively drips walking bass lines and blues grooves. The cinematography is a solid example of simple cinematography, unobtrusive or flashy, combined with an editing mentality that stresses an economy of cuts.

P.S. This is at it's core, a simple film. This is what it achieves, and it has heart and soul, but Mississippi Grind lacks that certain something, some more "oomph",if you will, to be a 4-star film.