Review of Two for the Money (1972) by Eden R — 19 Jul 2012

McConaughey gets to display his treasure chest (his beefy pecs) a few times in this meandering flick. This film is similar to '21' in so many ways, in that one person or a group of people stumble on a way of making a lot of cash in a short time, but fate (or American movie convention) intervenes and makes them lose all of it, and the characters go back to being where they were before the 'durian runtuh' hit them.

McConaughey loses his touch at picking sports winners for gamblers when he lets the success get to him. His character pressurises a laundry shop owner to bet more than he can afford, who loses US$380,000 and his business and fiancee.

But can our hero be bothered about it? Nah, he just caves in and runs back to his small town to coach kids, just for the "pure" enjoyment of it. Pacino rants and raves, as usual, and his desire to bet on his wife is the film's most honest moment.