The best-buddies road trip movie is an easy genre in conception but one of the most difficult in execution, particularly if you’re aiming to blend comedy and pathos, as directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Half Nelson”) attempt to do in “Mississippi Grind.” (The duo also tried to nail that balance in 2010’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” which ended up neither funny nor much of a story.)
“Mississippi Grind” — about two gamblers who decide to attend a big poker tournament in New Orleans — might read hackneyed, too, if not for the leads. Ryan Reynolds, shaking off his “Woman in Gold” torpor for the slick-charmer character he’s been nailing since his small-screen days in “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” is a natural as Curtis, a drifter who steps into an Iowa casino and disrupts a sad-sack crew of card players.
He does, however, quickly charm Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn), the one player who believes in lucky charms. Mendelsohn, who strong-armed his way onto America’s radar in “Animal Kingdom,” gets to act from his softer side: Yes, he’s a compulsive gambler and a frequent thief, but he’s also one who also says a long goodbye to his cat before leaving for the Big Easy and is too much of a gentleman to give in to a young woman’s come-on, instead cuddling her kitten. (Which, ahem, is not a euphemism.)
The characters’ chemistry is aces, with both men’s eyes, particularly Gerry’s, lighting up when they see each other after that initial night, which morphs into liquor-fueled tall tales and subsequent hangovers. It’s the kind of quick and easy friendship that these days would be stamped with a somewhat tacky word that begins with “bro” and rhymes with “ants.” But it wouldn’t be wrong: Boy, do these two enjoy each other’s company.
Of course, reality creeps into every relationship, and when Gerry starts to go off the deep end after trying and failing — with Curtis’ cash — to dig himself out of a hole, Curtis isn’t happy to discover that Gerry’s not a fun gambler, but rather one who doesn’t know when to stop. He was willing to help his new pal try to play his way out of debt; when Gerry overindulges, however, their dynamic changes.
Boden and Fleck turn “Mississippi Grind” into a sort of travelogue, inserting montages of well-known places when the guys stop first in St. Louis, then Little Rock, then New Orleans. It’s somehow heartwarming even if you’re not familiar with the cities, knowing that the sequences are valentines that will make some viewers swell with nostalgia. In St. Louis, Curtis and Gerry visit the poker hall where Curtis’ sometimes-girlfriend Simone (Sienna Miller, ever the chameleon), works. The side trip to Little Rock is for reasons more nebulous; Gerry, forever the type to look for signs to guide his next move, tells Curtis that a queen played in a game signaled that he should try to reconcile with his ex-wife (Robin Weigert). When Gerry gets there, however, his intent doesn’t seem so pure.
Though the camaraderie of the two gamblers — forever flipping coins and betting on things such as whether the next man who comes out of a public restroom will be wearing glasses — is endearing, the film isn’t afraid to explore their darker shadings. “I’m not a good person,” a guilt-ridden Gerry tells Curtis, yet you might not agree. Besides his addiction and the financial trouble he’s in — granted, neither are small issues — Gerry is a sweetheart, an easily likable guy who’s unafraid to show emotion or to allow himself be moved by a rainbow. He’s affable and means nobody any harm. It’s one of Mendelsohn’s best roles, one memorable in its warmth.
Whether Gerry learns any lessons by the end of the film is difficult to say, but ever the risk-taker, he tries to start anew after Curtis seems to bring him luck once again. It’s also difficult to say goodbye to these two, whose paths seemed star-crossed with the promise of a friendship that will be long-lasting.
In a world in which you’re only as lucky as your last bet, even a good thing (such as Curtis’ relationship with Simone) can’t last too long. “Mississippi Grind” winds up being that rare beast: the buddy comedy where you’re not tired of the buddies well before the credits roll.