High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (2003)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Excellent, a Must See

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Stu Ungar had one of the most exciting and crazy lives a poker player/gambler could have, and this movie does an incredibly poor job of showing it. I am a poker player and a fan of poker in general and was extremely excited to hear that a movie about arguably the greatest player ever had been made. All this movie does is gloss over his life. The poker scenes never last more than 1 or 2 hands, so there is no depiction of the flow or struggle experienced in large tournaments like the WSOP. His well known struggle with drugs is barely even touched. In real life, the guy had to have surgery done on his nose because he snorted so much coke that he ate through the cartilage, and then he started smoking crack to avoid damaging it further. In the movie, there is only one scene of him snorting coke. Not a thing is mentioned about his step son who killed himself which sent Stuey further into self destructive behaviors, why would such a crucial life moment be left out? Also, towards the end, the movie gives the impression that Stu is recovering. There are multiple scenes of him being rehabilitated by his Vegas friend who tries to show him how to live a normal life and it seems to be working. Then it jumps to Stuey dying in his hotel room to end the movie. What the hell? Show the downswing! As far as I am concerned, a legit Stuey Ungar movie has yet to be made. I blame the writing, even with quality actors like Micheal Imperioli, this script fails to tell an accurate story. I realize things need to be changed a bit for a Hollywood movie, but this falls so short that it gives a false interpretation of Stuey's life and I would not recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Stu Ungar.

Stu Ungar is considered by many to be the greatest poker / gin player of all time - an extraordinary self-destructive force of nature - tiny in stature, but a huge heart for the game.What we have here is a kind of Hallmark film about the dangers of gambling. Sure, he wins, he loses, he blows it all on sex, drugs, and more gambling we get it, but where is the real play - where is what made him the greatest card player of all time.Much too flat, and frankly boring in places, this gets a four because we get to learn something about Stu the man, but Stu the card player, nada.Nicely shot and presented up to a point this is the perfect example of how not to make a film about cards: honestly, ESPN's coverage of the World Series is more watchable than this.A waste of a great chance.

This movie attempted to make Stu Ungar's life interesting by being creative. What they forgot is that his life was plenty entertaining enough on it's own without having to make things up.A short list of the inaccuracies: 1) Stuey was not sent straight to Las Vegas for a Gin Tournament to pay off old debts, he spent a good deal of time in Florida first, and only went to Las Vegas when he ran out of Gin games on the east coast.2) Stuey never associated (or played Gin) with a casino executive (like the one played by Pat Morita in the movie.) 3) There was no magical turnaround in the buildup to the 1997 WSOP. In fact Stuey barely made it into the tournament as it was. He snorted Cocaine the week before even.Either tell the story right, or don't tell it at all. 4 out of 10 stars for Michael Imperolli's credible performance (the only redeeming quality of this movie.)

What in the world! This piece of gambling cinema would have been suitable for the Lifetime Network. Michael Imperoli is a good actor but I think his portrayal as "Stu" fell short. The montages were unbearable and too many. The supporting cast, where are you? Whoever did the casting should be partially at fault. The cinematography was useless. A gambling story with an after school feel to it. Stories of this sort should be left for the Oliver Stone's of the world. It would still suck ass but at least it would be fun to watch. It was an attempt that lost it's wheels before the race ever begun. Mario Andretti in the 1982 Indy 500 came to mind.