Two for the Money, Al Pacino Exclusive Interview

Two for the Money
Gamblers Start Somewhere

Welcome to the voracious, cutthroat world of high-roller gambling. Fortunes are won on Sunday and lost on Monday in Two For the Money—a high-stakes drama set in the adrenalized world of wheeler-dealer gamblers—where riches are made and destroyed with the flip of a coin. With millions of dollars on the line, reckless players engage in a "who's conning whom" game where the bets are high and the losses even higher.
Two For the Money marks the return of AL PACINO to the role of power player. With a searing performance that punctuates a career spent stealing the screen in such epochal films as The Godfather and Scarface, Pacino commands the screen as Walter Abrams, a recovering addict-turned-betting advisor with a delicious lust for power. With the energy and charisma that have made him an icon, Pacino bares his acting teeth in this film.

In such hits as Any Given Sunday, The Devil's Advocate and with his Oscar®-winning performance in Scent of a Woman, audiences know Pacino brings out the best in his cast. Time and again, he has played a character who takes a young man and transforms him into a seasoned competitor who comes to equal (or surpass) his own power. Part Svengali, part Pygmalion, Pacino-as-Abrams tears through Two For the Money in yet another tour de force performance.

Working alongside Pacino, MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY plays sports gambling phenom Brandon Lang, a self-assured (but washed-up) former college football player who is on the cusp of exploiting his true talents: his ability to consistently pick football winners. This uncanny knack attracts the hungry Walter into Brandon's small-time world. Brandon holds his own as an ingénue sports advisor, fighting for his piece of the turf against the paternal, yet ruthless, Walter.

Rounding out the powerful cast of Two For the Money is RENE RUSSO, playing Walter's gorgeous, yet life-hardened, wife Toni. Also a recovering addict, Toni wields the true power in her home—balancing Walter's precarious ambition and serving as a reminder that his inner demons are not far from the surface. An actor with luminescent presence on screen, Russo completes a dynamic triangle with these two leading men. Giving quiet muscle to their makeshift family, Toni will tolerate neither Walter's attempts at self-destruction nor Brandon's possible descent into gambling mayhem.

In a character drama where financial and human fortunes are on the line, Two For the Money rests the balance of power on a unique family. The audience is invited to enter the rush of high-roller gambling where those with fortunes to burn and money to risk play a deadly game.

Cert: 15
Release: 10/03/2006
Running Time: 2hours 1min
Studio: UIP/Universal