The Poker Club

"The Poker Club" is truly a well-done film, providing a dynamic cast of characters, a gripping tale, great diversions, and the actors do a wonderful job in each of their roles.

Kudos to Johnathon Schaech for his capable writing and smooth character portrayal. Oooo I love that guy!

Kudos to Judy Reyes, playing her character so very well. She met this challenge!

The story unfolds holding your interest because of the actors' capable performances.

I'm not much on dramas but this captures your interest and holds your attention. I watched is several different nights and each time I found myself as interested as the first time. WONDERFUL FILM!

Johnathon Schaech does that thing he does best playing Aaron Tyler, who hosts of a weekly poker game of his old friends. The game is interrupted by the appearance of a burglar, whose death leads everyone into a devastating spiral of treachery and deceit. The film takes some rather surprising liberties with the Ed Gorman novel, but it works on its own level thanks to the sure-handed direction of Tim McCann and the cast. Aside from the always reliable Schaech, I particularly enjoyed Johnny Messner as a cynical former baseball player, now a strip club owner, and Judy Reyes. It was good seeing her outside of her Scrubs. (Not that we see her completely out of her Scrubs, if you know what I mean.) Well worth a look.

I gave this one a 6/10 because of the twists involved. It was a very enjoyable movie, moved along very well, the actors were very good.

With all of the trash out on the market now days, its nice to see a good drama that catches your attention and keeps it.

I am not much for drama, but this is one I would recommend. I feel it will be one of the best missed movies of 2009.

Johnathon Schaech is riveting in this role.

I know that most of the critics will give this one a low score just because there are no big names in it, but don't let that miss-lead you... This is a good movie to watch, not a waste of time or money.

I found a free copy of this in the little library outside the Presidio Y, so no big investment here, but I was really quite well pleased with this as a pizza night movie. Whoever put it together knows how to make a movie, and if you dig noir in general, and have reasonable expectations, this won't disappoint. The New Jersey locations add a touch of the exotic, and the performances are perfectly fine throughout. Some viewers may find the ending predictable, even so this rises to about the same level as various serial noir pictures of the classic era and avoids any excessive violence or embarrassing eroticism.

I've been a fan of Tim McCann for a long time, an underrated, cult director who always brings a gritty, realistic edge to his films. While this is a more conventional story than the brooding, psychological Runaway, or the insane, disturbing, genre-bending Nowhere Man, the snappy direction and some nice performances elevate this crime drama. A few of the plot developments require a little willing suspension of disbelief, but that's often the case in these 'Hitchcockian' thrillers. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised, and happy to see the charismatic Loren Dean and a good jittery performance by McCann stalwart Michael Risley.