Do our lives follow the principles of gaming like poker? All the reviewers of the movie or the book that I have found so far have missed the key theme of the "The Music of Chance". Yet there are many clues indicating that the book author, Paul Auster, wanted to show how mathematics, game theory, is part of our life events. Numbers such as the wall of 10,000 stones (referring to the Wailing Wall) , bankrolls, prime numbers, costs, and number of supplies are purposely mentioned in the film. The character names, Stone and Flower, could well be a reference to the diamonds suit and the clover-shaped club suit of playing cards. The lead character is named Nash(e), the same as the real life mathematician famous for game theory work. His life was portrayed in " A Beautiful Mind". He was famous for the "Nash Bargaining Solution" for coalitional or cooperative game strategy where 2 or more people can only get the most out of a game by cooperation and trust. The manner in which Nash and Pozzi cooperate and the way Stone and Flower cooperate in the game is a key element of the movie. You don't have to know game theory to enjoy the movie, but its does help to be familiar with a few gaming and poker concepts.
In poker, good outcomes occur when you risk the least to gain the most and when you have the better hand. The characters in this movie are repeatedly dealt "hands" with which they must decide whether to bet or pass. Their choices determine their fate. Their life decisions and their consequences create the game of life which yields a a certain harmony and continuity like music. Try to notice each time in the movie that a character had two choices. How much did they risk to gain what? To get you started, early in the movie Nash could have played it safe and drove directly to his sister but he made a choice to pick up Pozzi and later he took a chance to cooperate with Pozzi in the poker game. Both he and Pozzi start out similarly with low bankrolls. Nash is running out of money, lost his wife, his job, and his father. it would be hard for him to lose much. On the other hand, Flower and Stone have a huge bankroll. Long ago they took a low risk chance to win a lot in a lottery and won. Pozzi had a choice of staying or leaving after the poker game. He also had a choice of staying or leaving the wall when it is nearly finished. In each case, he make a choice to risk a lot, and he loses. A very brief unlikely event, involving the passing of a pickup truck at the wrong time, causes him to suffer a "bad beat". Meanwhile Flower and Stone live in a castle-like house the Kings. They have diorama, city of the world , placed on a table like cards in a poker game. It depicts people in various active situations. One unlucky one has slipped on a banana peel, others are in prison, and one is facing a firing squad. Risking the most to get the least is a strategy for tragedy. Near the end of the movie Nash senses that he is losing his life and risks a lot in a plan to try to save it. Based on my own experience, It's unlikely that Flower and Stone could have beaten Pozzi at poker after a few lessons and after getting beat so easily. There sudden change in luck against Pozzi in their own house made it seem like a form of cheating called collusion , a "cooperative" way to play poker.
I give this movie 8/10 for excellent acting and writing. I also posted these comments on the movie's discussion board at this site for any responses. I am a mathematician and poker player. I have not read the book. I hope these comments increase your enjoyment of the movie.
In poker, good outcomes occur when you risk the least to gain the most and when you have the better hand. The characters in this movie are repeatedly dealt "hands" with which they must decide whether to bet or pass. Their choices determine their fate. Their life decisions and their consequences create the game of life which yields a a certain harmony and continuity like music. Try to notice each time in the movie that a character had two choices. How much did they risk to gain what? To get you started, early in the movie Nash could have played it safe and drove directly to his sister but he made a choice to pick up Pozzi and later he took a chance to cooperate with Pozzi in the poker game. Both he and Pozzi start out similarly with low bankrolls. Nash is running out of money, lost his wife, his job, and his father. it would be hard for him to lose much. On the other hand, Flower and Stone have a huge bankroll. Long ago they took a low risk chance to win a lot in a lottery and won. Pozzi had a choice of staying or leaving after the poker game. He also had a choice of staying or leaving the wall when it is nearly finished. In each case, he make a choice to risk a lot, and he loses. A very brief unlikely event, involving the passing of a pickup truck at the wrong time, causes him to suffer a "bad beat". Meanwhile Flower and Stone live in a castle-like house the Kings. They have diorama, city of the world , placed on a table like cards in a poker game. It depicts people in various active situations. One unlucky one has slipped on a banana peel, others are in prison, and one is facing a firing squad. Risking the most to get the least is a strategy for tragedy. Near the end of the movie Nash senses that he is losing his life and risks a lot in a plan to try to save it. Based on my own experience, It's unlikely that Flower and Stone could have beaten Pozzi at poker after a few lessons and after getting beat so easily. There sudden change in luck against Pozzi in their own house made it seem like a form of cheating called collusion , a "cooperative" way to play poker.
I give this movie 8/10 for excellent acting and writing. I also posted these comments on the movie's discussion board at this site for any responses. I am a mathematician and poker player. I have not read the book. I hope these comments increase your enjoyment of the movie.
