Review of Shark City (2009) by David Z — 28 Mar 2015
What happened here? Striving to fly as a con-caper/bromance comedy hybrid (for lack of a better description), Shark City has some seriously clipped wings. The dialogue is just tired and jolted, like the actors just forgot to try.
The action always feels forced, and is never believable. So often, movies and hollywood get poker wrong, and measured by that shortcoming, this one surely fits the bill. The player who runs the big game, Callaway, could win a cool 3 million (the pot with his ace high flush, and the side bet against the mobster antagonist).
Yet he folds the winning hand (to allow Kenny to repay his debt; but to Callaway, Kenny is essentially a stranger whose only connection to him is Kenny is a friend of a friend). He even gives Kenny his $100,000 stake money back! No self respecting big-time gambler would pass up a 3 million payday for a 1.
4 one. Ridiculous! The movie gives a weak explanation that the hand was a setup for Callaway to get revenge on the mobster - his former boss. Yet he would have won the 1.5 million from the mobster either way.
No need to pass up winning a 1.5 million pot with the best hand, at his own club, when no one would have raised a finger to stop it. Poker players are ruthless, and no self-respecting poker player would do this.
This review of Shark City (2009) was written by David Z on 28 Mar 2015.
Shark City has generally received negative reviews.
Was this review helpful?
