The famous poker
player Don “The Matador” Everest (Michael Madsen) is holed up in
the Colorado Casino in Las Vegas, where he’s so good that he has
to cheat, intimidate, and occasionally murder people to stay a
winner. Along the way he’s made some very dangerous enemies who
try to POKER HIM TO DEATH. Or something like that. Eddie (Eddie
Cibrian), Clark (Todd Williams), and Miami (Kristin Lehman) have
all suffered in some way from losing sessions where the Matador
took their money by cheating them, and now they’re trying to get
revenge as a group managed by Seymour (Kenneth Welsh). Meanwhile
Lee (Chris Bauer) is after the Matador for the murder of his
brother. All this ought to make life pretty tough for Mr.
Everest, but with almost the entire city of Las Vegas in his
pocket, it may just be water off his back.
CRITIQUE
If Days of Our Lives
and the World Series of Poker procreated, Tilt would be the
bastard offspring. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the
series (beyond the fact that the poker in it is horrendous) is that it
was created by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who proved they can
do a LOT better when they wrote Rounders. Where Rounders
did a great job of representing poker, gave us interesting
characters, and had dialog that didn’t make me want to puke, Tilt
finds a way to be its exact opposite (especially in the
narration). Watch Rounders once you’ve learned about poker,
and you’ll notice things that you hadn’t picked up on before, so a
second viewing is very worthwhile. Do the same with Tilt and
you’ll more likely find yourself saying, “Huh?”
Almost like a car
crash though, it’s hard to look away. Not because any of the
characters are particularly interesting, but just because you have no
idea what unbelievable thing is going to happen next. That and the
wonder if our heroes really are that stupid to want “revenge” by
taking a little bit of the Matador’s money. Which isn’t even his,
because the casino stakes him. Great plan.
Along the way
there’s some poker that might look interesting to the totally
untrained eye. Our heroes “set bear traps” holding the best possible
hands made on cards that give their opponents very good second best
hands. That’s not being a great player, that’s being really, really
lucky. One of the best bits is about a young and asinine Internet
poker player who plays three whole tables of poker online at once
using three different computers. Wow! That’s kind of like saying
you’d need three different computers to chat with three different
people at the same time over instant messenger.
Cameos by great
players lend credibility to the series that it doesn’t really
deserve. Daniel Negreanu, T.J. Cloutier, Phil Hellmuth (who
eventually plays the Matador in a mock-World Series of Poker), and
others all make brief appearances. My conclusion: Who cares? The
series still shows very little poker, and when it does, it’s not very
interesting. Mostly we focus on back room dealings in the Colorado
and the best laid plans of the three players and their field general,
Seymour. The three are able to pretty much win at will, even in a
tournament structure. Meet me at the final table? Sure, that’s no
problem! Anyone who can win tens of thousands of dollars and progress
in a tournament that easily probably would never be as down and out as
these three say they were, even after being taken by the Matador.
So Eddie, Clark,
and Miami
are trying to get revenge by . . . winning the money that the casino
bankrolls the Matador with? In one session? And this guy who runs
his operation like a drug lord is actually just a really good poker
player? And he’s so good he has to cheat all the time? Right. Next
up: The seedy life of grandmaster chess players who are actually
ninjas who assassinate child prodigies.
THE VIDEO
Tilt
is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Edge enhancement
without noticeable halos? You got it. The video looks great, and
unless you look very closely, imperfections are not noticeable.
THE AUDIO
Tilt
is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. English captions
are available, but no other languages are.
EXTRAS
Behind the scenes
(21:00) is the best extra in a flood of crappy ones. There’s some
commentary by cast and crew about the series, the poker boom, etc.
Deleted scenes (21:22) might also be worth if you’re really into
the series, as it gives both the scenes and reasons why those scenes
were cut (basically because of time constraints or pacing concerns).
Actor auditions
from Lehman, Bauer, Don McManus (playing casino manager Bart “Lowball”
Rogers), and Amelia Cooke (playing Dee Everest, the Matador’s
incredibly hot daughter) are included, though why I don’t know.
The 1998 World
Series of Poker Final Table (34:39) is an interesting addition, but again, why the
1998 World Series? Some may find this less interesting than it
sounds, since there were no cameras to view player hole cards at the
time.
Three short extras
provide very little: Outtakes (3:52), On the set with ESPN’s Mike and Mike (5:05),
and the Virtual Tour of the Colorado Casino with Eddie Cibrian
(2:40) could all be passed up easily. The Alternate ending of
the season finale, however, is quite an alteration from the actual
ending.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tilt
is an attempt to capitalize on the current popularity of poker by
creating a soap opera about it. I have a better idea: Let’s lock up
Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, Doyle Brunson, and a few other poker
celebrities and film “The Real World Series of Poker” when hilarious
antics ensue. Or not.
