"Poker Night" Theatrical Poster
Wingman Productions brings the 2014 film Poker Night to Blu-ray and DVD this month. This riveting crime thriller revolves around a poker game between a bunch of cops who aim to help a rookie law enforcer named Jeter (Beau Mirchoff) out of a very sticky situation.
Don’t be fooled by the film’s title – although it centers around a poker game, it doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of poker, nor does it throw endless terminology at the audience. For the most part, the poker skits are used to educate Jeter about the morals of being a good police officer.
The educators come in the form of a slew of famous actors such as Sons of Anarchy duo Ron Pearlman and Titus Welliver, as well as Breaking Bad star Carlos Esposito – all playing veteran cops.
Things become interesting when Jeter is faced with his kidnapper and crazed psychopath, and as the plot thickens, writer and director Greg Francis throws endless twists into the proceedings to help keep the audience on their toes throughout. Ultimately, it’s a quite bold indie film that has been released in an effort to stimulate fans of a myriad of different genres.
Partly because in the last two years, Hollywood has seen a raft of casino-related films flop including the latest Paramount Pictures film starring Mark Wahlberg, The Gambler. But Francis knew this, and has created an interesting spin on the world’s favorite casino game, that saw its popularity reach unprecedented levels in the late 90s when online gaming saw its inception via the Malatese-based InterCasino. After that, many icons of the sport became household names like Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth resulting in filmmakers everywhere, tapping into the popularity of casino gaming. But as the genre has slowly died out, Francis has enthused the film with elements that will excite horror fanatics the world over.
Although it’s fair to say that we have seen the last of big budget poker films, Poker Night’s refreshing take on the game may encourage indie filmmakers to jump on the bandwagon and start exploring their options once more.
Be sure to catch the film’s trailer!
