Word: dahle
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Virtually any place a family might go in New York has literary associations. Young readers will recall that the long spire of the Empire State Building, for example, was the last stop for Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Other readers will enjoy deconstructing the great skyscraper, a la David Macaulay's Unbuilding, which tells of the landmark's fictional dismantling by Saudi Prince Ali Smith for transport to the Arabian desert and reassembly as the headquarters of his petroleum empire...
Matt Damon is already being typecast--as a genius, no less. In Rounders, he just sits there, like a poker game that has its ending broadcast in the first hand. Rounders offers convincing evidence that the actors involved should carefully adjust the directions of their careers. John Dahl should return to the genre which made him famous--the sexually charged neo-noir thriller that he basically reinvented. Matt Damon should go for range and dive into a weird character--maybe even a villain. (Sacre bleu!) Gretchen Mol should have a heart-to-heart with Meryl Streep. John Malkovich should just...
...career, is already being typecast--as a genius, no less. In Rounders, he just sits there, like a boring poker game that has its ending broadcast in the first hand. Rounders offers us convincing evidence that all the players involved should carefully adjust the directions of their careers. John Dahl, for instance, should return to the genre which made him famous--the sexually charged neo-noir thriller that he basically reinvented. Matt Damon should go for range and dive into a weird character--maybe even a villain. (Sacre bleu!) Gretchen Mol should have a heart-to-heart with Meryl Streep...
...gifted, dishonorable player given to dealing from the bottom of the deck. The mystery of Rounders is why a smart guy risks repute, not to mention life and limb, to help a dumb and self-destructive one. Still, if Rounders lacks the sardonically twisted plots and people of Dahl's best work (Red Rock West, The Last Seduction), it is, like them, well acted and atmospherically arresting. The director fails to fill this inside straight, but it's grimly suspenseful watching...
...Dahl, who retired from Yale in 1986, will receive a Doctorate of Laws...