Directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson, Sugar) like to play around in genres, not unlike Robert Altman used to do. So, it seems fitting that their latest feels like an Altman movie -- California Split, specifically. Mississippi Grind is about two gamblers (Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn) on a road trip to New Orleans. The movie has its limitations because of the conventionality of its narrative structure, but I really came to love these two characters. (Mendelsohn is especially terrific.) My review is up at Paste.
