Film & TV

Blu-ray/DVD Review: Poker Night

When a rookie detective is kidnapped he must call on the lessons he learned at poker nights with his more experienced peers in order to outwit his kidnapper.

While Poker Night is certainly about a game, it’s another prime example of why a book should never be judged by its cover. In this game, the stakes are higher than a few chips and losing is not an option.

This stylish film wastes no time in raising the stakes. Within minutes of the opening, rookie detective Stan Jeter (Beau Mirchoff) is tasered and kidnapped, kicking off an edgy thriller that maintains its tension to the end.

Poker_Night_DVDHis unknown captor is a man in a mask, played with an eerie calm by Michael Eklund. He has an agenda but it’s up to the detective to find out the purpose of his kidnapping while enduring increasing levels of sadistic torture.

Writer and Director Greg Francis successfully uses a disjointed narrative style to explore three layers of storytelling, each with its own intrigue.

The main story is cut at key points to return us to Poker Night, a ritual set up by experienced but out-of-action detectives. They share stories between hands of their life on the streets, primarily of times they made a grievous mistake and how they got out of trouble. It’s their way of mentoring the rookies so new detectives can learn from their mistakes. Each violent tale of murder and crime comes to life with Jeter in the storyteller’s role, putting himself in the picture to observe and learn.

Jeter finds he must now put those lessons into action to outwit his captor, save a fellow prisoner, and survive the increasing cruelty being inflicted upon him.

Non-linear storytelling is a director’s technique that can enhance a story when done well and Francis takes his many years in television to make his feature film debut work. The multiple short stories and cuts between timelines all add to the excitement of this graphic but exciting torture porn.

The seasoned cast also includes Ron Perlman, Giancarlo Esposito and Titus Welliver as the cops, with Halston Sage as fellow prisoner, Amy.

If you enjoy a quality cast, a gripping story and don’t mind some creative violence then Poker Night is sure to please.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10: 8

Poker Night will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on 17 February 2016.

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