MISSISSIPPI GRIND
US, 2015, 110 minutes, Colour.
Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Upton.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Mississippi Grind offers audiences an American road trip – but with quite a difference. It opens with the ravaged face of Ben Mendelsohn as Gerry, sitting and contemplating in his car. It looks very existential with angst, and it is. But Gerry is contemplating his fortunes and misfortunes in gambling, eventually going in to a familiar casino situation and trying his luck.
Inside the place, there is a cheerful character, Curtis, played pleasingly and effectively by Ryan Reynolds, who clicks with Gerry and they finish a night on the town. Actually, Gerry is a not very successful real estate agent, separated from his wife and daughter, living a rather miserable life, so it is not difficult for him to agree to go with Curtis on a trip from Iowa to New Orleans, along the Mississippi, with a plan to visit his ex-wife and daughter on the way and (misguidedly) achieve reconciliation.
We see a whole range of characters, especially Curtis, his girlfriend and the girls who work on a Mississippi riverboat. Curtis has many charming but fickle moments, brought to a head in New Orleans when he goes to a bar, listens to the ageing singer who turns out to be his mother. Gerry has no success at all with his wife, even trying to steal some of her savings from her.
The two gamblers fall in and out of the luck, but Curtis has an easy going way about him and is able to succeed on the rebound while Gerry is an all-or-nothing risk taker. He perseveres in the ending is (probably temporarily) beat.
The film was written and directed by the team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, responsible for such films as Half Nelson, the sports film, Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Their shrewd understanding of characters, of the impulse to gamble and its consequences, are well served by the performance of Ben Mendelsohn, long a top stalwart of the Australian film industry, venturing sometimes overseas but, in more recent years, making his mark in American films, Killing Them Softly, Exodus: Gods and Kings, A Place Among the Pines. This is one of his best performances and well worth seeing.
1. The title? The US? The river? Road film and the many States? The gambler’s world, winners and losers?
2. The locations, Iowa and the city of Dubuque? Memphis? Little Rock? New Orleans? The vistas and characteristics of each of these cities?
3. The casinos, the smaller joints, upmarket and downmarket, hotels, homes, bars? The musical score? In the casinos? The songs?
4. A film about friendship, Gerry and Curtis? An unlikely friendship? The reasons that the two men clicked? Humour, what they shared, liked, the journey, discovery, reinforcing their styles – leading to the climax?
5. The pros and cons of gambling? The film as a warning, but with hope? Not didactic? The initial visual scene of the rainbow and the references to its symbolism?
6. Gerry, sitting in the car, very serious, alone, listening to the questions and answers on his tape? Going in, fate, sitting at the table, listening to Curtis and his storytelling, Curtis buying the drinks, laughing at the jokes, relishing the anecdotes? Gerry winning, the effect? Going to Curtis’s place, the night, waking up, the hangover?
7. Gerry and his job, the real estate work, the hangover, taking the couple to the house? Gloria, smartly dressed, the interview, the conversation, the interrogation, the mixed messages, her manner, talking to her daughter on the phone, the final demands for repayment? Sending her strongman in – and Gerry getting the photo of the cat on his phone?
8. Fate, discussions about like, tossing cons, winning, the decision to go to New Orleans, the money to demand for the stake, the car, travelling on the road? Gerry and the attempted robbery and the car park, his being stabbed? Leaving, the food for the cat?
9. Memphis, the girls on the boat, Simone and Vanessa? Curtis and his relationship with Simone? The changing clothes, gambling on the boat, winning and the effect?
10. The character of Curtis, wandering, cheerful, not settling, the bet about his age and his driving licence? Stories, not always accurate? Bonding with Gerry? His relationship with Simone?
11. Gerry, the discussions with Vanessa?
12. Gerry losing money, unable to tell Curtis? The decision to go to Little Rock? Gerry’s wife’s house, familiar with it, the discussion with his wife, her antipathy? Her marrying Gary? The daughter? Eight years married and separation, her offering the tea, his attempt to steal money, her catching him, his taking the photo of his daughter, her ousting?
13. Gerry and his lies, desperate, arriving in New Orleans, going to the racetrack, his sure thing, losing so much money? Curtis giving him a hundred dollars? The intention to drive, his staying, the gambling? Going to the house of Tony, the memories of the anecdotes, Tony punching him? Continuing to
gamble, the risks?
14. Curtis, the racetrack, actually winning, the bundle of cash, the men playing basketball, the hundred dollar bet, his welshing, their bashing him and finding the money? Why did he do this? To the casino, the singer, discovering that she was Curtis’s mother, his gift of the money?
15. Gerry phoning, the providence of Curtis finding Gerry, together, gambling and success, betting everything? The sudden transition to the lobster dinner, the steak, Gerry wanting a burger? The one thing he wanted to do was to give something to his daughter?
16. The night, Curtis and the woman, Gerry waking, taking the money, the note?
17. Curtis, talking about going to Peru, the image of Machu Picchu, contacting Simone?
18. Gerry, in the car, buying the car, the photo of his daughter?
19. The blend of the didactic and the optimistic – with touches of humanity?
