1st watched 4/24/2005 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Paul Rachman): Interesting idea for a story, but a flawed execution hamper this movie from becoming a good watch from beginning to end. It begins with a heist of an expensive statue from an art collector in which the gang; comprised of 4 so-called friends and a professional thief(played by Tim Curry); are supposed to be handsomely rewarded when the object reaches it's destination. In the next 5 days, they meet the gangster(played by Forest Whitaker) who they need to pay-off if the statue is not received. The thief kills himself and they then begin to wonder if the statue will ever reach it's destination. In the midst of the uncertainty, they devise a plan so that at least 3 out of the 4 should get off scot-free, if all goes well, but the 4th will be dead and the rest will collect off his 1million dollar insurance policy(which is the amount the gangster needs if the statue doesn't get to it's destination). The problem of the movie is the predictability in which the characters are portrayed. Olivia Williams, who plays Audrey, is the most predictable and the least well-played. The others do an OK job, but their characters pretty much show us what their demise will be. Without giving away too much more, I'll leave it at this and let you decide if you want to watch the movie to see how it ends up. Not a bad movie, just a little too predictable.
Review of Four Dogs Playing Poker
