Every morning I chase the sun, and every night I chase the moon.
Disclaimer:
Being a huge fan of Chloe Grace Moretz, I decided to write reviews for all the films in which this wonderful actress took part. Don't expect my writing and my fair share of objectivity.
In this review there will be no jokes, no barbs, no funny metaphors. I'm not going to look for stupid moments, pick on the plot, or make fun of actors. There are movies that don’t deserve it. These films are so similar to each other, and at the same time so different. These films take the viewer for a living and do not let go to the very credits of either his look, hearing, or soul. These films are there, and they are beautiful. I would like to tell you about one such film, and its name is The Poker House.
As the hero of a Russian TV series said, “Poker is a game of characters.” We need nerves of steel for this game. You either bluff or you lose everything. “House of Poker” tells us not about poker players at all, but presents the game as a component of a certain hellish cocktail, having tried which at least once a person risks starting his triumphal march to nowhere and gradually rolling down the inclined right to the bottom of society.
Actually, the story is conducted on behalf of a fourteen-year-old girl named Agnes. Agnes lives in a small town somewhere in Iowa, with her mother Sarah and two younger sisters Bee and Cammy, ages twelve and nine, respectively. According to Agnes, her whole life is collapsing in this city and, apparently, she is right, because the house of her family is nothing more than a den where all the scum gathers in the evenings, and the place is run by an African-American with a bad character named Duvall - a gambler and pimp Sarah. Burdened by house cleaning after stormy evenings and taking care of her sisters, Agnes tries to study, plays basketball on the school team, works part-time for the local newspaper, and generally lives an active life, as much as possible in the absence of finances and a mother permanently residing in nirvana. “We didn’t always live in that kind of shit,” Agnes says, “it was different — home, mom, everything...” However, Father Agnes was not a saint either. He often beat up Sarah and ended up in prison, and Sarah, finally free, went on a rampage and everything became much worse.
The picture is a staging of the life of its director Laurie Petty, who probably decided to cope with her emotional anguish and perpetuate her life experience. I don’t know how much the plot of the film corresponds to the reality of the situation in which young Petty was, and it is in fact not important, because the film turned out to be good, and for this, my own biography is forgivable.
The plot is as simple as drama. From the very beginning, the viewer is confronted with the cruel realities in which the main characters are drawn, and the further, the worse, and the prospects are darker. Yes, some characters are superficial, but this is enough for the organic environment of Agnes and to emphasize some aspects of her character.
Agnes in the performance of Jennifer Lawrence looks very decent. The range of emotions is perfectly conveyed, which is very important for such a genre as drama. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of The Hunger Games in general and Lawrence in particular, and I'm only here because of the role of the smallest member of the family. How wonderful it is that I still have unseen films with early roles, and I will be able to go back and enjoy every such role of this little miracle for the first time. Cammy is a small ray of light in the dark realm of forbidden fruits, she is the most vivid symbol of purity and defenselessness in the picture. They're the most expensive thing Agnes has left. They need to be protected from the cruel world in which they live. She needs to be strong. For the sisters. But I got distracted. The rest of the actors are unknown to me personally, but showed themselves in this film only from the good side. Of course, this is not the upper class, but for such a film - the best.
In conclusion, I want to say that there are films that do not stand out either with bright special effects, no twisted plot, or witty dialogues. They are simple, and they are beautiful. The heroes of such films you feel as yourself, live with them this period of life and feel all their emotions.
This movie should be seen by everyone. No matter what hard day you live, sit down, take a break from your life and realize that somewhere is much worse for someone now, and then get up and continue your journey.
10 out of 10
Well... I really don’t like to write reviews of such complex films, because there are too many impressions that are hard to convey, but still I will tell my opinion.
I liked this movie and didn’t like it. This is a biographical film of the director of this film (women), and the fact that the film is made based on real events cannot leave indifferent. This movie is very atmospheric and I wouldn’t turn it off when I started watching it.
It is worth giving credit that the main role was played by stunning actresses: Jennifer Lawrence, Chloe Grace Moretz and Sophie Bairley. And if the latter diluted the film, amused me, then Jennifer got a very difficult role, which she performed flawlessly. This heroine reminded me of the heroine of the film “Winter Bone”, I even sometimes thought that this is one film.
But there’s something missing in The House of Poker, whether it’s not fully atmospheric, or lack of budget played a role, but some of the footage and dialogue just seemed superfluous to me. If you remove all this unnecessary heresy, then the film will be half an hour, no more.
The camera work was done very rough, as well as the work of the person who is engaged in the installation. These guys just didn't coordinate their actions - and it was noticeable throughout the film.
Overall, this film is extraordinary, it deserves attention and I am sure it will not leave you indifferent.
Z. And the last scene is so super, above all praise, not even need words...
You have no idea what kind of shit I've gotten into.
I am not an advocate of multi-page reviews, so in 2 words about the film:
So, the film is based on real events, and tells about the difficult period of life of 14-year-old at that time girl Agnes and 2 of her sisters - Be and Cammy, yes, I believe the film tells not a specific story of Agnes, and also her sister, and although the emphasis is on the story of Agnes, she is directly responsible for her younger sisters, so their fate largely depends on what happens to Agnes. Why is that? Yes, because their mother is a prostitute and she does not care about children, well, besides the fact that she is already thinking of attracting Agnes to business, and their house is a brothel in which the pimp grief mother, Duval, who also has plans for the growing Agnes, dictates his rules. And our main character is shown beyond the age of an adult, she already works, watches the house alone and also manages to play for the school basketball team, and she has no problems with her peers, she is on good terms with everyone, in general, a beaten plot for a drama, although it is worth noting that although the film is an artistic interpretation, but still this is a real story from life.
And now about the film itself, not shot like hell, the characters are not disclosed, a lot of meaningless scenes, not the most outstanding camera work.
Most of all, complaints are caused by the incompleteness of the secondary characters, and the main character is not shown in the best way, for the whole film we have only 3 more or less revealed characters. The main character, her mother and Duvall, and the keyword more or less, because even they are poorly disclosed, but about the others we know almost nothing at all. But the film is definitely worth watching, since a great acting game saves the situation, for this, thanks to the cast and in particular Jennifer Lawrence, thanks to her and the correct construction of the narrative (+ to the screenwriter), the film attracts and during viewing you do not think about the shortcomings.
Like I said, it's worth watching. This, of course, is not the film that you add to your favorites and will review, but it will leave a good impression.
7 out of 10 for acting and script, but not for an idea, but for a development that does not allow you to get bored
P. S would like to note 1 very unpleasant fact, dubbing, and even 2 voice translation of this film into Russian there, only author, but I did not particularly interfere.
If my whole world is falling apart in this city, who cares?
I wouldn’t have known about this film if I wasn’t interested in Jennifer Lawrence and didn’t like films of this genre – when the whole world around the main characters is oppressed. In the “House of Poker” lives a mother with children, and in this house they only do what they drink, take drugs, have sex, fight, and sometimes play poker.
It’s simple: Big sister (Jennifer Lawrence) works part-time in the local newspaper. She's 14 and she hasn't written a line in her personal diary - too much has happened. She plays basketball and listens to her mother's lectures that it's time for her to grow up and become a prostitute. She cannot afford to be weak, for the sake of her sisters, she just has to endure everything steadfastly, she has to save them. God closed the door in front of her, she closed the door in front of him.
The middle sister (Sophie Bairley) plays the saxophone, delivers newspapers, befriends homeless people and surrenders bottles. One day B spilled all the alcohol that was in the house, and did the right thing.
The younger sister (Chloe Moretz) spends the night at her friends' place because they will be fed there. Sitting in a bar, eating cookies and annoying visitors with his questions. The older sister would rather die than allow the younger sister to plunge into the life she lives in. How can you have a child from one and love another?
Three sisters are the main thing in this movie. Only because of their love, they keep afloat and do not despair. This love is not what Agnes felt for a man, it is different. Their relationship is the only bright thing in this film. Yes, everything is lousy, but who cares about it except the sisters?
Everything is perfectly filmed: gray-blue colors reflect hopelessness, a kind of isolation. Actors play as if they put hidden cameras in their house and filmed all their secrets. Some moments are frightening with their cruelty and honesty, such as Agnes talking to her mother in the bathroom. Cynical and tough.
What does the movie teach? I don't know.
Don't hang yourself around black men's necks. The fact that first you have to bite off the head of the biscuit fish so that it does not bite. That you can move mountains and drain rivers for the sake of loved ones.
First impression: Jennifer Lawrence has to suffer from circumstances, from family, as in the film “Winter Bone”, which was released 3 years later than this film. But when all events come together in a single storyline, then the differences between the two roles become apparent.
The second impression: the film is imbued with some inner kindness. The love between three sisters who are deprived of parental attention is supernatural, sometimes hidden, but very sincere. History clings to the soul, clings to the heart.
And so, smart, creative, capable, athletic 14-year-old girl who can conquer the whole world, is forced to listen to all sorts of nonsense that her mother says, as she is constantly intoxicated with alcohol and drugs. Laurie Petty lives in a poker house, as do her two younger sisters. People have pity on their faces when they say “she lives in a poker house.”
" “Anything can happen and anything can happen” – the world is full of surprises, but when there is no parental support, when there is no one to rely on and no one to trust, then you really can not predict what awaits you even in an hour.
Despite not very funny events happening in the lives of little girls, Chloe Grace Moretz pleases with her jokes. “I love my legs, of course you love your legs, otherwise you would fall without them.” When I saw her eat cookies, I couldn't figure out why there was a big pile of crumbs around. It turns out that the cracker type “fish” must first bite off the head, and leave the tail. Have you ever drunk cherry orange juice? Watch "House of Poker" and find out what happens. Chloe coped with her role perfectly, although she was only 10 years old, and gave the film a good, positive mood.
Summing up, it is worth saying that the film is good, soulful, calm. He makes you a little immersed in your thoughts and feelings. Somewhere to worry, and somewhere to be happy.
The House of Poker is a drama based on the life of Laurie Petty, who in turn directed the film. The role of Laurie herself was performed by a stunning actress, at that time did not have any awards, Jennifer Lawrence. She did a great job with her role!
A young girl from a dysfunctional family tries to somehow tolerate the indifference of her alcoholic mother (Selma Blair) and her pimp (Bukham Woodbine). The heroine has to help her two charming sisters, taking on the role of a mother. The actress who played the youngest of the sisters, it is impossible not to notice - this is the beautiful Chloe Grace Moretz. Later, she played such major roles as the Killer from the movie “Kick-Ass”, worked with such directors as Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese.
The director managed to subtly keep everything to the smallest detail. It feels like Laurie Petty just plunged into her past and put her whole soul into this film. This autobiography can be compared to Deric Martini’s The Provincial, but the picture is not so deep.
There is almost no music in the film, although we all know that half of the success of the tape depends on good music. But even without him, the viewing was successful. In my opinion, the House of Poker is worth thinking about. The film is very believable, vital, without beauty, all in moderation. After a drama like this, you’ll appreciate every moment you’ve lived, learn to feel sorry, and feel strong. – Lori Petty
Yes, the film turned out to be not simple, telling about the lives of three sisters and relationships between people and not only about this, it generally touches on the topic of life in a house where people live so poor that they have nothing to eat.
Most of the film we watch Agnes (Jennifer Lawrence) – the eldest daughter of a mother who likes to drink, smoke and prefers healthy African-Americans who like to play cards for money.
Agnes is almost 14 and she is a basketball player on the same team and she plays well, even set a record, but it will be more because of the unpleasant episode, thanks to which she put all the anger into the game.
A younger girl, Bee (Sophie Bairley), earns money by delivering newspapers in the morning, collecting bottles and renting them out to buy some sweets. She is very shy and irritable, but she can play the saxophone. Agnes loves Bee, although he makes fun of her.
The third younger sister - Cammy, (Chloe Grace Moretz) - a funny girl and likes to ask questions, likes to eat, and almost never at home, she prefers to spend the night at friends, of course, there and feed and let sleep. I was very pleased with the play of this actress, she is able to give out funny phrases and at the same time combine them with a suitable facial expression.
And how this trio perform a song in the car at the end of the film is just something, they show that when they are together they are not bored no matter what.
In general, the film is good, but there are serious scenes in it.
8 out of 10
Great, quality film. At the level of all the actors, especially, except for Jennifer (whose game has already been talked about a lot and in her talent and excellent performance it is hard to doubt), I would like to highlight Boukem Woodbine and Selma Blair. He vitally showed a sticky, seductive look, a look after which you want to wash, even though you are on the other side of the screen. She conveyed the image to the point, did not overplay, and the role is complex and the face is thin. Although the character is a downtrodden woman and a terrible mother, Salma managed to show a broken, unhappy woman who is so mired in the impurities of life that she does not understand what is happening, what she is doing and does not want to realize it. She does not care about everything, she seeks to forget and disfigure herself and her life until she ceases to feel. I used to perceive Chloe Grace Moretz as an actress from such ranks as Miley Cyrus, Lucy Hale, Vanessa Hudgens, but now my opinion has changed. Because of one scene. Where Moretz wakes up after a night at a friend’s house, she behaves and looks exactly like the children do when they wake up. Sleepy. She played it like she did in life. I can’t say much about Sophie Bairley, but she definitely remembered a moment like Moretz, I didn’t see, but she played at a level throughout the film. Her friendship with the homeless, who, to put it in stamps, are “people too,” didn’t look frightening until she knew that hope was starting to fall from here. The fate of Agnes, which her mother prepared for her. She'd probably make it for all her girls. Agnes was able to leave because she felt a different world, a world where she was not a second-class person, but a person who was admired, respected. And she was able to respect herself, and this gave her the strength to change her world and the world of girls for the better.
Sisters are an integral part of the film.
Yes, there are things in life, and worse. Only this film teaches you to empathize with them, not ignore them, enter their lives, not pass by, support, not condescend to help.
The plot of the film is an excerpt from life and its vitality is important. The story is described above.
Most of the film takes place in an atmosphere of despondency and hopelessness.
A prostitute mother is a drug addict and alcoholic and her three daughters who live in a real social pit, surrounded by the indifference of their mother, her pimp, clients and other scum of society. It's amazing how they keep the love of life!
The main character - Agnes (Jennifer Lawrence), the eldest of the sisters, pulls the whole family, takes care of the younger sisters and with horror understands that if she is dragged into this pit finally - she expects the same life as her mother, who already openly hints that it would be time for Agnes (14 years old) to engage in the ancient profession and help the family financially.
Pleased Chloe Moretz (Camie) and Sophia Bairley(Bi), their heroines brought a little light and childlike immediacy to the film.
Jennifer Lawrence (Agnes). Many were surprised when she won an Oscar this year for "My Boyfriend is Psycho," there were plenty of comments about her undeserved award. My advice to these people is to watch The House of Poker and you won’t have any questions about this girl’s amazing acting talent.
In this film, she 100% earned an Oscar!
A great movie! Great acting!
Actress Lori Petty decided to debut as a director, showing everyone an excerpt from her life. Poker House is based on her experience. The very same Petty in the film plays the now famous Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, and there is a very small Chloe Moretz.
The main character is 14 years old and, as is customary in American cinema, the actress looks much older. She lives in a house called the Poker House. She lives with her two younger sisters. One of them carries newspapers and collects bottles, communicates with homeless people and plays the saxophone. The youngest sister spends the night at a friend’s house and that’s it. The two sisters were never revealed in the film. In particular, why the heroine Moretz is needed is not clear. The relationship between the sisters is not clear, although the girls play well. What about them, if even about the main character to say little that can be. Except that she plays basketball and sort of works part-time at the local newspaper. These sisters have a mother. She works as a hooker and is always stoned. Which, apparently, she works at home. She can easily go up to her eldest daughter and tell her how well she was fucked today. Needless to say, mommy does not care for the house - there are empty bottles everywhere, mice run and there is no food. And then there is the pimp, who every day comes to them and ... kisses the main character. And she clearly doesn't mind. She kisses easily with a man who sells her mother to men. In general, the actions and motives of the heroine Lawrence throughout the film are not clear. Why is the house called the House of Poker? The fact is that every evening in the house gathers all the garbage from the area - prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts. They play poker, drink, fuck, sniff cocaine, etc. Are you saying that only Russian directors shoot black women?
What the director wanted to say is not clear. Like, look how fucked up I was? Yeah, that sucks. So what? About what? None of the characters are revealed, the actions of the characters are not clear, the script is very weak, the direction is the same. The only bright spot is Jennifer Lawrence. If it weren't for her, she would have given a much lower grade. The girl on her fragile shoulders drags the whole film, giving a really good performance. Even then it was clear that the girl is a talent, will go far. That's what happened.
5 out of 10
The film is based on real events, the main character is a prototype of the director and screenwriter Laurie Petty.
Ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, a very young Lawrence, a waapper little Moretz and just a cool Bairley can not leave anyone indifferent. You can look at them forever, like water or fire. The girls performed their roles perfectly. Lawrence got a dramatic, leading role. But Moretz and Bairley mixed the whole movie, each in its own way. I adore Moretz, so I was doubly fascinated.
Now for other feelings. The movie seems completely unfilled. There are events here and they are very diverse, and parties in the house and at all only a sense of horror and sympathy for the girls cause, but this is not enough. What's missing is action. It seems that if you wanted, all the events of the film could fit in 30 minutes. I think if it weren't for the gorgeous, talented girls who were dragging the whole movie on their skinny shoulders, it wouldn't be worth talking about. The script is clearly raw, although based on real events. So 7 from me - this is purely the merit of the performers of the main roles - they played very well.
That was one hundred percent true, except for the gun. There must be guns in movies. - Laurie Petty.
Perhaps you have never thought about whether it is good or bad that people who have experienced tragic events themselves rarely shoot films based on them – at most they give the backbone for the script, writing an autobiographical book, and then advise filmmakers how to better tell their story. Laurie Petty, who began her career in 1985 with the detective series The Equalizer and has since starred in a variety of shows ranging from CSI to House, decided to go a different way. She undertook to transfer the history of her difficult childhood and teenage years to the screens with her own hands, writing the script and sitting in the director’s chair, having no much experience in either the first or the second. This is especially valuable, given the fact that the film features a topic that many women and their husbands will not discuss, let alone openly talk about it on the screen. But the actress, even thirty years after the traumatic events, some details of which have even disappeared from her memory, felt the need to break this barrier in the cinema and speak out. Judging by the many people who have had similar experiences, who approached Petty after watching the film and said they felt relieved, she succeeded. The question is – did she succeed in the painting?
The first thing that surprises me about the House of Poker is the visual style. He jumps from the manner of exquisite gangster films with black businessmen in exquisite costumes and hats with maps, whiskey, whores in his hands to the good old style of “small city atmosphere”, where there is no border between home and stranger, and in the local pub everyone knows each other no worse than family members. Not exactly what you would expect from the movie, about growing up in a house where the ball is ruled by a pimp, but the fact remains that Petty does not choose either hyperrealism or its softened version for theaters. She explains this by telling the story through the eyes of children, to which she ranks the main character, whose prototype is, for whom there is no longer faith in God, but faith in feelings is still warmed. The director doesn’t tell a fairy tale, but in some ways not everything that happens is the clear, one-sided look of an adult – some people still seem better than they are, some fantastic prospects are more real, and safety is not questioned for a while while while it is still possible to clean up and preserve the feeling of home. But unfortunately, it turned out that the visual style is much better conveys the thoughts of the director than the script and dialogue, and Petty too carried away telling her story, forgetting that in addition to fellow unfortunates, there is another audience that wants her to ask questions and answer them.
One Western critic accused the filmmaker of exploiting his experience - he believed that the heroine of the film had many places where she could turn for help, but she did not. The critic is not quite right - Petty portrayed quite well why her heroine believed in her family to the last, trying her best to normalize the situation in the house, already overgrown with infamy. But something in his opinion is still there - Petty does not set a goal to study the character of his character and at this point we return to the question - is it good or bad that she took up the picture? Could she distinguish between the real and the heroine of Jennifer Lawrence, who embodied the director on the screen? I don't think. Petty gave them different names, but that's it. The main motivation of her character is age. Her mother's motivation is not a fact. Her father's story - who needs it? He was just another religious man who "sells heaven" and he turned into him from a good father to a good family in a second. The director has not been able to study the characters of his characters, and such research always plays a crucial role in the viability of the film. She chose an extremely long philosophical introduction, deciding that the drama of her story would do the rest for her. Laurie Petty made a film for a specific audience, and it felt like a performance in a group of Alcoholics Anonymous, which would be completely meaningless for a perpetual teetotaler, but very important for someone who can’t part with a bottle. In the end, the director broke one barrier and erected another, fenced off from the ordinary viewer for her tragedy, which she could not properly transform into a real movie, which should be not only weapons and history.
I love such small, unknown dramas that no one has ever heard of.
This film is based on real events, which already sounds like a verdict. Such films are about the difficult life of teenagers who, as adults, can not forget the horrors that happened to them in childhood. Agnes herself gained courage and told the world her difficult story.
It's terrible to live in a house that has drug addicts partying every day. And this company includes the mother of the family, who herself tells her eldest thirteen-year-old daughter that it is time to sell herself. The pimp is there and he will arrange everything quickly.
But besides Agnes, there are two girls in the family who are younger, but who will face the same fate if everything does not change.
The house of poker is not all about poker. A film about alcoholism, drug addiction, violence and poverty.
In such a family, the elder Agnes already drinks, smokes and gets into trouble, but nevertheless she knows the boundaries that need not be crossed. She works two jobs and plays basketball well.
Average B, friends with homeless people and collects bottles.
And the youngest sits at the bar all day waiting for someone to care. She sleeps with her girlfriend, who has five siblings by her side.
The film is serious and interesting. It's very atmospheric. From the very first minute I watched without looking away from the screen. Good drama to watch. Of course, there are many such, but fans of the genre will like it.
By the way, there was some incomprehensible residue. And the end would be more specific.
I don’t really like Jennifer Lawrence at all, but I liked her a lot more in House of Poker than I did in The Hunger Games.
8 out of 10
Lawrence before the Hunger Games had at least two films about the plight of a teenager from a dysfunctional family without a father - "Winter Bone" and "House of Poker". The tapes are certainly not the same, but the common leitmotif can be caught.
Here we have a story about what it is like to live without a parental wing, which seems to be, but it would be better not to have it.
The mother tries to put her older sister under her pimp to pay off debts, “You won’t always be 14.” Average became friends with local homeless people and a glass container receiver, who skips it in the morning first and allows you to heat up more candy in exchange for bottles. The youngest is in the family of a friend who already has six children. It is amazing how children manage to keep a clean head and a good heart in such conditions. The film’s authors claim that everything is based on real events, and Agnes is the director of the film. At least grab your head.
At the same time, it seems that all is not lost - the children in this city want to become someone, but all they are capable of is to represent, like, here I am a famous basketball player, I am Mohammed Ali. People only dream and think, and then fall once again under the hand, and end games with bad uncles is not a happy ending.
Separately, I would like to highlight the acting of the guys - it is so sincere that you instantly penetrate, and therefore the film is even harder to watch.
How many children live like this when their parents give up and can't fight for them? They give birth to children, and then wave their hand, saying that they themselves can settle down in the world. Well, look at this movie. Believe me, nothing like that.