The Poker Club (2008) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2008
Director: Tim McCann
Cast: Johnathon Schaech, Johnny Messner, Judy Reyes, Michael Risley, Loren Dean, Lori Heuring, Jana Kramer
Rating: R
Release Date: October 16th 2008 (Austin Film Festival); April 21st 2009 (DVD)
Running Time: 1 hour 21 mins 29 secs

The Movie Review

The Poker Club film still 1


The POKER CLUB
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Many people says, you might escape from pickpocketting or stealing and even being a kleptomaniac (unless you're a celebrity), but you can never escape from murdering someone. The Poker Club elevates the guilty feeling one step further. You just lucky if you got caught directly by the cops instead of being toyed with first by someone you don't know. What if the witness is no less cruel than the murderer?

Four friends in their mid 30's are having a casual poker night in Aaron's house when a burglar got caught and trapped in the living room with four of them circle him. Aaron Tyler (Johnathon Schaech of Quarantine (2008)), the hot-headed Bill Doyle (Johnny Messner of Ring of Death (2008)), the meek Curtis Reeves (Loren Dean) and the dope-addict Neal Saloman (Michael Risley) eventually corner him in the basement which leads to fatal tragedy. They try to get rid of the evidences thinking that it's the best solution for their family life. But alas! Someone seemingly knows what had happened on Aaron's house and that someone is playing with their mind slowly but surely. And now their life and the safety of the loved ones are at stake. What will happen to the four friends? And who is that 'someone'?

I always try to keep open-minded with any movies and sometimes even willing to trade expensive production value and the same old premise of chess-game like this with simple but strong storyline. Gladly I inform that this thriller/drama movie, which is based on a novel by Ed Gorman, excels in its story and acting department. If you like this type of movie, you would be hooked up until the end credits role. The story is smart without being over the top and it could give us the impression that all things that happen in the movie could befall on any regular person in you neighbourhood. The solution doesn't come quick with the villain is not also super clever either. Normal everyday stuff, but that's why it's scary because regular people can easily relate to Aaron and his friends.

The flaws are obvious, lackluster camerawork with only a few stylish angle, poor lightings, uninteresting backdrop, forced topless scene and not so fit-the-mood musical score. But the biggest flaw is the pacing which is rather slow and for some could be tedious. But at least we got very decent performances especially from Judy Reyes (as Detective Patterson) and Lori Heuring (as Aaron's wife). Of course Johnny Messner has that usual bad boy charm. One thing that bothers me, Loren Dean's character is credited as Curtis Wilcox, while he's several times called by Detective Patterson as Curtis Reeves.

The Poker Club is a decent thriller film with good twist. I don't suggest you to spend money buying a copy of this, let alone seeing it on expensive movie theater. But if you like the premise, it's worth a rent. The twist may even linger in your mind for a while.