The Poker House

"THE POKER HOUSE" ALSO KNOWN AS "BEHIND CLOSED DOORS" IS A VERY WELL WRITTEN AND WELL ACTED REALISTIC STORY ABOUT THE LIFE THAT CHILDREN SO OFTEN FACE WHEN ONE OR BOTH PARENTS DRINKS TOO MUCH ALCOHOL OR COMSUMES OTHER DRUGS. ALSO IT TOUCHES ON THE SAD REALITY THAT SOME CHURCH LEADERS ARE VERY DIFFERENT AT HOME THAN WHAT THEY PORTRAY AT CHURCH. OUR STORY FOCUSES ON 3 WONDERFUL LITTLE GIRLS AGES 10-14 THAT LIVE WITH THEIR USUALLY DRUNK MOTHER IN A ROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD. AN OLD FAMILY FILM SHOWS HOW THE DRUNK FATHER BEAT HIS WIFE AND THE GIRLS, AND HOW HE OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T CARE ENOUGH TO BE ANY PART OF THEIR LIFE. HE BASICALLY ABANDONED THEM AFTER THE SEPARATION. THE MOM'S DRUNKENNESS IS DESTRUCTIVE TO HER DAUGHTERS SELF ESTEEM BECAUSE OF FREQUENT VERBAL CRITICISM, THE TYPE THAT ACCENTUATES THE NEGATIVE AND ELIMINATES THE POSITIVE. THE MOM DIDN'T GIVE THE LOVE THAT DAUGHTERS NEED. RATHER THAN BEING ANY SUPPORT TO HER DAUGHTER, WHO WAS THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER ON HER SCHOOLS TEAM, SHE WAS READY TO TEACH HER 14 YEAR OLD, AGNES, HOW TO HAVE SEX WITH ANY OF THE MANY MEN THAT PARTIED REGULARLY AT THE GIRLS HOME. AGNES, PLAYED TO GIRLISH PERFECTION BY A GORGEOUS 19 YEAR OLD NAMED JENNIFER LAWRENCE, WAS SEDUCED AND RAPED BY AN INTOXICATED BOYFRIEND OF HER MOTHER'S. AGNES RUSHED INTO THE BATHROOM TO CLEAN OUT HER BLEEDING VAGINA BECAUSE HER VIRGINITY HAD JUST BEEN PAINFULLY RIPPED AWAY. WHEN HER MOM CAME IN, AGNES, TRIED TO GET HELP AND LOVE, CRYING AND REACHING FOR A HUG, BUT THE MOM DIDN'T SHOW ANY LOVE AND STARTED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL OF THE TIME THAT SHE WASTED READING TO AGNES WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER. THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER, PLAYED BY BEAUTIFUL CHLOE GRACE MORETZ, APPARENTLY ESCAPED BY SPENDING AS MUCH TIME AS SHE COULD AT FRIENDS HOUSES. THE MIDDLE GIRL DELIVERED NEWSPAPERS, BEFRIENDED SOME HOMELESS PERSONS, TELLING THEM HOW SHE MAY GET ADOPTED, AND APPARENTLY FANTASIZED ABOUT NEW IDEAL PEOPLE IN HER LIFE. ALL 3 GIRLS DEVELOPED OUTSIDE INTERESTS AND FRIENDS, THAT ALTHOUGH WERE FAR FROM IDEAL, NEVERTHELESS WERE HELPFUL BECAUSE OF THE HORRID SITUATION AT THEIR HOME. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE LORD PUTS A GREATER HEDGE OF PROTECTION AROUND YOUTHS, BUT SOMETIMES HE REMOVES PEOPLE FROM THIS WORLD YOUNG. PLEASE READ WISDOM OF SOLOMON 4:7-19.WHO HASN'T SEEN OR HEARD OF THE HORRID VERBAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE THAT COMES FROM DRUGS OR TOO MUCH ALCOHOL? A PERSON THAT DOESN'T ENCOUNTER THESE TYPES OF ABUSES IS VERY BLESSED. THE FOLLOWING FORMS OF VERBAL ABUSE ARE FAR TO COMMON: MACHINE GUN (MGVA), MACHINE GUN VERBAL CRITICISM (MGVC), AND GUN CRITISM (GC). MGVA IS RAPID FIRE ABUSE WITH LITTLE CHANCE TO RESPOND. MGVC IS RAPID FIRE DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS WITH LITTLE CHANCE TO RESPOND, AND GC IS ONE OR MORE CRITISMS SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT YOUR TIME WITH A PERSON OR PERSONS. THE MOM IN THIS MOVIE USED GC AND MGVC, WHICH I HAVE FOUND TO BE INSIDIOUS, BECAUSE THOSE THAT DO THIS, IGNORE THE 95% OR MORE WONDERFUL THINGS THAT YOU DO, ACCENTUATING THE NEGATIVE AND ELIMINATING THE POSITIVE. WORSE YET, THEY ALMOST NEVER REMEMBER THE HORRID WAY THAT THEY BEHAVED, SO APOLOGY IS UNHEARD OF FROM THESE ABUSERS. IN MY LIFE, I BELIEVE THAT ABUSIVE PEOPLE THAT DON'T REMEMBER IT ARE TEMPORARILY POSSESSED, THAT A DEMON AND WITCH COMBINATION HAS BEEN RUINING OUR FAMILY IN THIS WAY FOR ALL OF THE NEARLY 100 YEARS THAT WE HAVE BEEN PILLARS OF THE BEAUTIFUL SAMISH ISLAND COMMMUNITY. VERBAL ABUSE/CRITICISM HAS LEAD MANY TO BE DEPRESSED OR EVEN COMMIT SUICIDE, BUT MY LOVE FOR GOD AND MAN IS UNENDING, NO MATTER WHAT EVIL IS DONE TO ME. HAVING NEVER CHOSEN TO HURT ANYONE IN MY ADULT LIFE, TO ALMOST ALWAYS TREAT EVERYONE LIKE I WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED (LUKE 6:31), TO OBSERVE EVERYONES RIGHTS AND PRESUME EVERYONES INNOCENCE, HAS ALLOWED ME TO REMAIN JOYFUL IN THE LORD DURING THE OPPRESSION CAUSED BY MY FAMILY'S PHANTOM MENACE. I HAVE NEVER CHOSEN TO BUY ALCOHOL OR NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR MYSELF, OR TO ACCEPT THEM AS GIFTS MY ENTIRE LIFE! UNFORTUNATLY, MY WITCH HAS "SPIKED MY APPLES" AND DONE WHAT HE/SHE CAN TO DESTROY MY FRIENDSHIPS ALL THROUGH MY "YELLOW BRICK ROAD" OF LIFE. MY RESPONSE TO THE EVILS OF THIS WORLD IS TO DO GOOD AND GOOD ALONE!THE END OF THE MOVIE SHOWS THAT THE GIRLS FINEST DEFENSE IS THEIR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER COUPLED WITH THEIR HEALTHY RESPONSE TO SEPARATE FROM THEIR DRUNK MOM AND HER FRIENDS. SEPARATING ONESELF FROM ABUSERS IS A NECESSARY TOUGH LOVE RESPONSE. THE MOVIE ENDS IN AN UPBEAT WAY AND THERE IS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THESE GIRLS WILL SUCCEED IN SAVING THEMSELVES FROM THE HORRORS OF REMAINING THERE. TRAGICALLY, ONE OF EVERY FOUR GIRLS WILL BE SERIOUSLY SEXUALLY MOLESTED OR RAPED BEFORE THEY GROW UP. GIRLS IN A HOME LIKE THE POKER HOUSE ARE EXTREMELY LIKELY TO BE RAPED MULTIPLE TIMES. IF YOU CAN, PLEASE HELP CHILDREN AND THE PARENT IN SUCH HORRID SITUATIONS. PERHAPS YOU CAN TAKE THE DRINKER TO A TREATMENT PROGRAM AND AA MEETINGS, AND THE KIDS TO YOUR LOVING HOME, CHURCH YOUTH GROUPS, AND ALANON FOR TEENS. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ABUSE THE DRINKER OR DRUGGER IN ANY WAY. WHEN YOU DO THIS, YOU BECOME AS BAD OR WORSE THAN THE ABUSER THEMSELVES. DON'T FORGET FROM 1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 6, THAT IT IS BETTER TO BE WRONGED THAN TO DO WRONG.DRINKING TOO MUCH WINE LEADS TO BITTERNESS, RESENTMENT, AND CONFLICT. BEING DRUNK MAKES A FOOL LOSE HIS TEMPER. THIS IS TO HIS DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE HE BECOMES WEAKER AND GETS INJURED MORE OFTEN.I LOVE THREE THINGS, AND THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD AND MORTALS; BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT LIVE IN HARMONY, NEIGHBORS WHO ARE FRIENDS, AND A HUSBAND AND WIFE WHO LOVE EACH OTHER.GOD ALMIGHTY (SIRACH 31:29-30, 25:1)

Amazing acting. The story is autobiographical so it is what it is. Painful and horrific upbringing of three abused and neglected children. I have never seen Selma Blair act this well. The scene in the bathroom between JLaw and Blair was mesmerizing. JLaw told her whole existence in her facial expressions. And I actually HATED Selma Blair for being entirely oblivious and self absorbed. Lori Petty is an amazing director and story teller. I think the rape scene halted any possibility of theatrical release. I had to keep reminding myself that JLaw was actually 18 when it was filmed and that there were several other people in the room while filming. She was just so vulnerable. Ugh.Great cast-Clarke Peters (The Wire/Person of Interest/etc,etc,etc), Bokeem Woodbine (3000 Miles from Graceland/Fargo/Spiderman), Chloe Grace Moretz (The Equalizer/If I Stay/Hugo), and some hysterical scenes with David Allen Grier (who co-wrote the screenplay)

I bought "The Poker House" because it featured two of my favorite young actors, Jennifer Lawrence and Chloe Grace Moretz, in a 2008 film before they were famous. Lawrence, who was 17 when this film was shot, plays barely 14-year old Agnes, the daughter of an emotionally-twisted, drug/ alcohol-addicted, prostitute-mother portrayed by the wonderful Selma Blair. Moretz, who must have realistically been around 11 years old, is one of Agnes' sisters, Cammie. Sadly underutilized, Moretz has little to do in the story other than sit at a bar and trade non sequiturs with an alcohol-addled, delusional and paranoid barfly (David Alan Grier). Agnes, as the de facto manager of this house of ill repute, is infatuated with a black pimp (Bokeem Woodbine) who treats her nice with gentle kisses while beating and selling her strung-out mother. Finally, the pimp decides it's time for Agnes to join Mommy and he viciously attacks the 14-year old. The violation is painful and hard to watch, Especially difficult to observe is the reaction, or should I say nonreaction to this violation by her mother who later makes it clear she would die for her pimp. The Lawrence character has a big basketball game on this night of the molestation, What is her pre-game ritual? Stretching and Gatorade? Hardly, she drinks alcohol, and smokes weed & cigarettes. Then there's that little incident concerning the (dare we say it?) rape. The casual viewer might think Agnes wouldn't have the right mindset for this contest. Casting her fate to the wind, she shows up for the game, although it is well into the second half. Donning her metaphor-like Wonder Woman suit, she pours in 27 points in 7 minutes to steal the victory. Agnes is laying on the floor after making the final shot. The fans and her teammates convulse into hysterical celebration! Meanwhile, does anyone care to pick up Agnes and offer her thanks for winning the game with her super-human effort. Short answer: No. She walks out of the gym with nary a word said to her. Not realistic. The basketball scenes were beyong not believeable. They were AWFUL. Plus, a body double was used for Lawrence during the more-athletic moves, a fact confirmed by director Lori Petty in a special features interview. I didn't like the movie. Director Petty said she based this story on her real life experiences while growing up in Iowa. Petty probably told a mostly-honest and accurate story with a little embellishment thrown in to spice up the plot. I found the storyline sad and detestable, many of the characters despicable with the overall effect creating an emotion of depression. I realize that is not a credible critique of Petty's moving-making skill. It just left me feeling rather ill. Blair and Lawrence were brilliant. Lawrencce, already showing signs of greatness two years before her Academy Award-nominated role in "Winter's Bone" won the Outstanding Performance Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival for this portrayal of a bright but abused 14-year old, Lawrence is, indeed, a wonder.

All by himself David Allen Grier is more than enough reason to watch this brilliant piece of moviemaking.Every role played by a master of the acting craft, a heartbreaking story, cinematographer and director working at the apex of their powers—this is a movie to sit down and really watch.The plot is unimportant, the story doesn't matter—you can read about those in the captions, this is one of those films that sweep you up into a world as weird and perfect as that of "Little Dorrit" or "Fitzcarraldo."By the way this movie is full of Black and caucasian actors who mix without any of the awkwardness we usually have to suffer through when Hollywood ever-so-reluctantly dips its toe into the diversity pool. They're all just there.

les débuts très prometteurs déjà de Jennifer laurence, un bon film pas de version française , version anglaise et allemande , seulement, ,une histoire tragique bien interprétée , par de bon comédiens a voir

Don't allow the first five minutes to dissuade you from this experience. This film is not a chocolate-covered pill and can sometimes be difficult to swallow, but goodness, is it ever worth it. This film is beautiful, difficult poetry. This poem from ee cummings (a repeated refrain throughout the film) seems to capture much of the film's feel:no time agoor else a lifewalking in the darki met christjesus) my heartflopped overand lay stillwhile he passed (asclose as i'm to youyes closermade of nothingexcept lonelinessThe film is dark, shot in mostly dull colours, but the characters are each fully rounded and utterly beautiful (even in their brokenness). The story, its execution, and its characters are deeply powerful and originally presented. An achingly beautiful film.

..... für ihn ein Film zum weg zum Sausen .Wer aber ein bewegendes Sozialdrama mit exzellenten Schauspielern schätzt, kommt am "Poker House" nicht vorbei.Regisseurin Lori Petty verfilmte eine kurze Periode des eigenen Lebens 1976 in diesem Regiedebüt aus dem Jahre 2007. Die Handlung ist kurz erzählt, hier wird der Rezensent kaum zuviel verraten.Aber von den 90 Minuten des Films ist jede Szene beeidruckend und von überzeugenden Darstellern getragen.Das "Poker House" ist eine Brutstätte der Prostitution und der Zuhälterei, des Drogenhandels und -konsums.Hier lebt die knapp 14jährige Agnes (Jennifer Lawrence) mit ihren jüngeren Schwestern Bee (Sophia Bairley) und Cammie ( Chloe Grace Moretz). Ihre Mutter Sahra (Selma Blair) ist eine Prostituierte, die völlig abhängig von ihrem Zuhälter und Liebhaber und durch Milieu, Alkohol und Koks gezeichnet, keinerlei Empathie empfindet und sich nicht für ihre 3 Töchter interessiert.Agnes, eine begeisterte und talentierte Hobby-Basketballerin,sorgt aufopferungsvoll für die jüngeren Schwestern. Mit mehreren Nebenjobs und kleinen Diebstählen trägt sie erheblich, wenn nicht sogar überwiegend zum Unterhalt der Familie, die keine mehr ist, bei.Ihre Mutter rät ihr, sich schnellstmöglich durchvögeln zu lassen, damit sie es bald professionell und dann auch gleich richtig machen könne.Bee verbrint ihre Zeit oft bei fürsorglichen Nachbarn, während Cammie in einer Kneipe Kirschen in ihren Soft-Drink gibt und mit einem schwer neurotischen Gast köstliche, kindlich-naive und altkluge Gespräche führt.Nach einem drastischen Übergriff des Zuhälters ihrer Mutter, den sie liebte und bisher nur geküßt hatte, bricht sie zusammen und findet keinerlei Trost bei ihrer völlig auf sich und ihre Sucht fixierte Mutter.Mit dem Auto flieht sie, zusammen mit ihren Schwestern neben ihr, laut singend aus der Gegend, eine wunderbare Szene am Ende des Filmes. Ihr bzw. Lori Pattys weiteres Schicksal wird kurz in Textform erwähnt.Man kann diesem Film nur viele Zuschauer und zahlreiche Rezensionen wünschen.Das es vor dieser erst 11 sind, ist mir unverständlich, auch wenn die DVD erst 2013 erschienen ist.In dem Film spielte Jennifer ihre erste größere Rolle, und diese derartig überzeugend, daß ihre steile Karriere inclusive einem Oskar und zwei Nominierungen nach diesem im Alter von 17 Jahren gedrehten Werk niemanden verwundert.Chloe Grace Moretz spielt ihre Rolle nicht, sie scheint sie zu leben, sie ist sicher nicht nur für mich die Entdeckung der letzten Jahre. Auch Sophia Bairleys und Selma Blairs Darstellung und die der übrigen Mitwirkenden fällt dagegen nicht ab.Neben den ernsten und tragischen Momenten gibt es auch viele Szenen zu Schmunzen, besonders über Chloe, aber auch die von Jennifer öfter liebevoll geneckte Sophia oder die herrlichen Auseinandersetzung zwischen den sympathischen "Pennern", die wie Sophia ihren Lebensunterhalt, besonders aus Alkoholika bestehend, mit dem Sammeln vob Pfandflaschen bestreiten.Doc Halliday

Il primo film per il grande schermo di Jennifer Lawrence e sicuramente da non perdere. La storia è un pugno nello stomaco, ma grazie alla bravura delle tre ragazze protagoniste (la Lawrence è affiancata dalle altrettanto brave Sophi Bairley e Chloe Moretz) è un film che vale veramente la pena vedere.

I was very happy with this product, it played fine and it is in good condition. Thank you very much