In this movie, Jason Statham (The Transporter, Crank) plays Jake, a low-level card player from Las Vegas who is just getting out of prison. When he went into the slammer, he was given a choice, he could either serve 14 years in a standard cell with the rest of the prison population, or he could cut his time in half by staying in solitary the entire time. The problem is, Jake is claustrophobic, but he is so determined to get out of jail as soon as possible and get his revenge that he takes the deal.
While locked away, he found himself sitting between two other felons; one is a master con man and the other a master chess player. During Jake's incarceration, he learns a lot from the two characters, and while he never meets them face-to-face, the three of them develop the perfect con that has origins in both chess and conning. Unfortunately for Jake, the other two somehow get out of their cells and escape before he is released and when he does finally get out, he finds that they have cleaned him out of everything he has had.
So, before he get his revenge on crime boss Macha (Ray Liotta of Goodfellas fame) for sending him away, he has to reclaim his earnings. Just when he is ready to start moving in on the crime boss, a man, Zach (Vincent Pastore) comes into his life and, when he convinces Jake that Zach and his partner, Avi (Andre Benjamin) seem to have some inside knowledge about Jake and his well being, Jake goes to a doctor and finds out that he has an illness that will leave him dead in three days.
Jake approaches the two characters who agree to "keep him safe" and help him take Macha down a few notches, as long as he does exactly what the pair says and gives them all his money. The rest of the movie involves Avi and Zach running Jake through a series of jobs that cause him to slowly give his money up over time. Meanwhile, as the trio hurts Macha, they also start hurting a mysterious underworld boss known only as Mr. Gold.
As the story progresses, everyone' s identity comes into question and you begin to wonder just how much of the movie is actually happening and how much of it is just in Jake's head. The film becomes a strange and twisted path that gets downright hard to follow at times, but in the end it is a story about freeing yourself completely by overpowering and out-smarting your own ego, and what the consequences are if you can't.
Like I said, this movie can be very hard to get your mind around, especially with only one viewing. If you see it once and can handle it, you will almost have to re-watch it just to try and pick up on what is actually going on. Like more and more movies, it has a very WTF ending that may spark discussions in the group that you are watching it with, but isn't necessarily worth the initial viewing to get there. While I typically enjoy Ritchie's movies and like to see Statham in anything (though he looks really odd with hair), Revolver has a very different feel to it and ultimately is a "must be in the mood" type of film.
