From dramatized true stories like Miracle and Hoosiers, fictional classics like Major League and The Sandlot, and legendary documentaries like Hoop Dreams and When We Were Kings, sports movies have long been a defining force in cinema. Tales of underdogs overcoming the odds will always appeal to audiences, and athletics provides a great backdrop for these narratives. Though it stands to reason that the guidelines for what makes a movie a “sports movie” would be pretty straightforward, there’s room for debate. While these films usually center on traditional sports like boxing, football, or baseball, some venture into more niche territory, which can cause viewers to question the flexible definition of the word “sport.” One such case is the 1998 Matt Damon-led film Rounders, which explores the world of poker.
Some could argue that Rounders shouldn’t qualify as a sports movie because poker itself isn’t really a sport. When taking a close look at the film, though, it’s revealed that whether one sees poker as a game, a sport, or something else entirely isn’t all that relevant to its sports movie status. The film follows the traditional beats of the genre masterfully, embraces the themes that have made sports classics so beloved, and shows a deep reverence for its central subject matter. Taking all of this into account, it’s clear that Rounders doesn’t only qualify as a sports movie — it deserves a place among the genre’s all-time best.
‘Rounders’ Follows Matt Damon’s Underdog Character on a Tale of Redemption
Rounders centers on Mike McDermott (Damon), a gifted poker player and law student in NYC who’s attempting to manage his commitment to school, his relationship with his girlfriend, and his recently incarcerated best friend’s return to his life, all while trying to earn enough money to pay off dangerous loan sharks. The film opens with Mike losing all of his money to a Russian mobster named Teddy KGB (John Malkovich) in an underground Texas hold ’em match. Following this, Damon’s character decides to take a step away from playing cards, choosing instead to focus on his schoolwork and relationship while working a part-time job. With this opening defeat and subsequent sensible move, Mike more closely resembles the likable, underdog heroes of past sports movies, rather than the typical, self-sabotaging degenerates one would normally find in a film about gambling.
Mike’s retirement from poker is tested when his reckless, dishonest, and fast-talking friend and former gambling buddy, Worm (Edward Norton), re-enters his life. Through Worm, Mike returns to the lifestyle he vowed to give up after losing his bankroll in the film’s opening scene. Conflict arises when a pimp named Grama (Michael Rispoli) buys Worm’s pre-existing debt and gives the two friends only a handful of days to pay it off. After playing in games all over New York for three days straight in an attempt to earn the money, Worm is eventually caught cheating in a game hosted by police officers. Both he and Mike are beaten, and all the money they’ve won in the past 72 hours is taken.
Following the altercation, Mike returns to the city alone to ask his mentor and lifelong poker player Joey Knish (John Turturro) to stake him enough money to pay the debt. After Knish refuses, with nowhere else to turn, he seeks out his law professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), who loans Mike the $10,000 he needs. This act of generosity leads to Mike once again sitting down across the table from Teddy KGB, in an attempt to redeem himself. It is a bookend that mirrors the up-and-down-and-then-back-up-again journey found in many classic sports tales.
‘Rounders’ Is Definitively a Sports Movie — Here’s Why
In his 1998 review of Rounders, famed film critic Roger Ebert wrote, “Rounders sometimes has a noir look but it never has a noir feel, because it’s not about losers … It’s essentially a sports picture, in which the talented hero wins, loses, faces disaster, and then is paired off one last time against the champ.” Ebert saw Rounders for what it is, a sports movie where the characters just happen to be competing in the seedy underworld of NYC’s poker scene, rather than in the MLB, NFL, or NBA. The archetypes are still there, though. Mike is the Rocky-esque triumphant figure who overcomes the odds. Teddy KGB is the bitter rival/reigning champion that needs to be taken down. Worm is the locker room troublemaker who gets in the way of a team’s success and Knish is the wise, old veteran that offers Mike sage wisdom throughout his journey.
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One of the biggest signifiers that Rounders is, in fact, a sports movie is the way screenwriters David Levien and Brian Koppelman and director John Dahl chose to end it. After his difficult journey, Mike wins in the end. While the ethics of that ending — which sees a compulsive gambler learn no lessons about the dangers of addiction after losing $30,000 at the beginning of the film, and instead victoriously embark on a trek to Las Vegas to follow his passion after being encouraged to do so by sensible figures in his life — can certainly be questioned, it undoubtedly fits in the lineage of sports movie conclusions.
Rounders also had an impact on the landscape of sports in real life. It has been credited with helping ignite the “poker boom” of the early 2000s, which saw poker become a mainstay on sports channels such as ESPN. While Rounders has gotten its due at times (The Athletic and Bleacher Report have both included it on lists of the best sports movies ever), it still deserves more universal love as one of the all-time greatest cinematic sports stories.
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