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.