Roulette

Confucius say:

One who does not notice similar dates of unusually stellar reviews might find themselves disappointed in film choice.



I did not find this movie as objectionable as others, but it certainly has its issues. I will admit that I am a bit of a sucker for Russian Roulette movies. Those and time travel shows are my weakness. The acting is passable. It is not so bad that it jolts you out of the narrative. However, a few of the characters lack any sense of depth. The changing color palette did not bother me in the least. I am terrible at writing reviews!

What's wrong with this flick? Acting; writing; direction; everything you see and hear. What's right with this flick? After what feels like an eternity of pain for the viewer, it finally ends. What's wrong with the reviews? As I noted in my own previous reviews, there is a clustering of rave reviews which always means a pity party held by those involved in the travesty; in this case, the month of around November. Gang, if you're going to lie (or give into your delusions) then at least spread the wealth out over several months (and to some extent the guilty parties did this) to dampen suspicion. The bottom like: Listen to the negative reviews; you surely have something (ANYTHING) better to do with your precocious time. Maybe watch a dumpster fire if you can find one....

I have long enjoyed reading the reviews on IMDb, but never wrote one before. But after watching this movie and reading the reviews associated with it, I could not help myself. To start, anyone who says the acting in this film is anything more than decent is also probably wondering why Tara Reid hasn't yet won a Golden Globe. Either that or they drink more than the alcoholic in this film. There is a semi-interesting story line and I will hand it to the ending being good, but certainly not worth watching this boring movie. I can think of at least three occasions where I considered turning it off altogether. I love low-budget films and usually choose those over anything mainstream, but this movie is a disaster.

I was lucky enough to be the first Australian to see this movie and I can easily say that it BLEW ME AWAY! (no pun intended ). Roulette is an extremely well written and very clever picture! Each individual story in the movie had twists and turns that I had not predicted. Then comes the end !!!!! There are few movies that I have seen that I am able to honestly say had me physically sitting on the edge of my seat, leaning forward, unblinking, completely engaged in the movie and Roulette achieved this. The cast and crew of this movie all put their best foot forward and created a movie that leaves you in an agonizing suspense. Brilliant.I have wasted so much time watching terrible Hollywood movies before that I wish to thank 'Roulette' for adding quality to 113 minutes of my life. It is THAT good!

Roulette will surprise you if you give it the chance. Heavy plot, deep character development, and believable acting make for a movie that, although an indie, certainly is a marker of great things to come for all involved. The movie is actually all about character development as it deals specifically with 3 individuals coming to grips with themselves, realizing that every decision they make, and have made, leads them directly to where they are. Something many people do only when it is too late. There are a few moments that are drawn out that could have been just as effective had they been trimmed just a hair. But that is something easily forgiven. The story throughout seems to be pulled forward by flashbacks. This might seem confusing at times, but is suddenly pulled and bound together in a familiar yet dramatically memorable way. Not a date movie, but one to share on many different levels.