Arka Mukhopadhyay
With English director Simon West of ‘Con Air‘ fame at the helm, ‘Wild Card’ is a 2015 noir-themed gambling thriller movie with a lot on its plate. Drifter Nick Wild (Jason Statham) lives a life on the edge, helping friends secure hands in marriage. However, when a friend, beaten up, turns up at Nick’s door, he must meddle with a bunch of criminals. Meanwhile, he must also take enigmatic and youthful Mr. Kinnick under his wing. Leaving a bloody trail behind, Jason Statham’s Nick becomes a day’s king, but what remains in the aftermath? Does he reach Corsica? You may have a few questions after the hastily drawn closure of the sleek adaptation of the William Goldman novel ‘Heat.’ In that case, let us delve deeper. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Wild Card Plot Synopsis
Nick Wild is having a drink at a bar, where Osgood is trying to coax his girlfriend into marriage. Nick crudely hits on the woman and tries to snatch her away from the table. Osgood saves the day with a few punches and hands over a thousand dollars to Nick the following day for the favor. Although they agreed upon five hundred, Osgood added another five hundred for the successful execution of the mission. Nick is happy with five hundred, and he returns the extra five. Meanwhile, Cyrus Kinnick from Boston looks for Nick, as he feels the need for a bodyguard, but he is tauntingly afraid that Nick may be too jocular.
However, Nick brings up his resume, including the karate lessons in Tokyo, economics lecturership at Yale, the National Golden Gloves championship (for amateur boxing), and lying. They agree to meet at a given time. Shortly after, Nick meets old acquaintance Holly in a beat-up shape back at home, getting to know that the culprit is Danny DeMarco. He meets Millicent, a management hand in the hotel where the incident occurred. Now Danny, who is living in suite no. 3506, comes from an affluent Italian family back east.
Although she asks Nick not to meddle in the business, Nick ends up doing precisely that. Nick keeps the carpet clean at Danny’s place for Holly to take center stage. As per Holly’s wish, a reenactment of the previous night’s scene undergoes, where Holly holds a scissor near Danny’s wee. She asks whether Danny loves her, and if she believes him, she will spare his “envy of all mankind” a fresh lease of life. They scoot with the 50000 dollars that Danny initially offers them, and Nick spends it all in the small casino Golden Gate. However, Danny is probably coming at him, but Nick can find a way out.
Wild Card Ending: How Is Cyrus Kinnick So Rich?
Nick undermines the mysterious figure of Cyrus Kinnick from the beginning. In the end, although Nick wants him not to ruin the moment, he acknowledges that Cyrus has been a good friend. Cyrus offers Nick a one-way ticket to Corsica, and five-hundred thousand dollars, the sum Nick initially won at the casino table. In a lively conversation at the cafe, Nick acknowledges that he is a compulsive gambler, but Cyrus thanks him for the lesson. Cyrus came to Vegas looking to live a life on the edge because he shuddered from the dread that he would grow scared later in life. However, Nick has given him the lesson that everybody’s scared.
Nick is scared of the future – which is why he places all his winning chips on another game, only to lose it all over again. Nick figures that the five hundred thousand will sustain him for five years, but the thought of a far-flung future of depravity haunts him. Therefore, as long as he can gamble, Nick will remain broke even in his forties, as he later laments in the movie. However, Cyrus Kinnick made a lot of money in his late teens, and Nick wonders how Cyrus did it. The contrast between the two characters defines the generational shift from the millennial slackers to the gen-z strivers. Cyrus was in the line of software engineering and put “an old twist on a new twist” on computer software. In the process, he earned 70 million dollars at the ripe age of 19.
Is Danny DeMarco Dead or Alive?
Danny DeMarco comes off as the villain in the picture. As Holly explains to Nick, Danny is a sadistic megalomaniac who would not hesitate to put a gun in a woman’s private parts. After abusing her, Danny lets his associates drop her off in front of the emergency ward of a local hospital. However, Nick and Holly settle the score by humiliating Danny in front of his subordinates. Danny has a humungous masculine ego, and he assails the aids because they were witnesses to the scratch on Danny’s genitals.
Later, Danny complains to Baby, a casino owner, that Nick killed his goons. Baby knows that Nick does not have to use a gun to commit a murder, and he is not easily fooled. As Baby wants to see the scratch, Danny backs out, only to strike later. As Nick and Cyrus are busy chatting at the cafe, Nick tells him that he is due for a murder. On cue, the thugs of Danny DeMarco enter the scene and demand Nick to go with them. Meanwhile, Cyrus creates a diversion, giving Nick the room to run away.
However, Danny and his thugs catch up to Nick shortly after. It seems that Baby’s faith in Nick has some truth. Nick indeed can assail with any given object. He got a spoon and a kitchen knife from the cafe. He puts the weapons to good use, unleashing hell on the thugs. When Cyrus asks about the goons, Nick says he lost them “in a manner of speaking.” Considering the bloody aftermath and Danny DeMarco’s body lying unconscious by the dumpster, the crime scene looks convincing. Therefore, looking at the bloody trajectory of the final action sequence, we conclude that Danny DeMarco is dead as a doornail.
Does Nick Go To Corsica? What Happens to Holly?
Nick heads out of Vegas with a determination never to return. In his pocket, Nick has a ticket to Corsica, and 500,000 dollars, with which he can have a vacation without giving the future too much thought. Whenever Nick is in danger, he visits Corsica in his mindscape, like before facing Danny in the final battle. Corsica is a French island in the Mediterranean. Seemingly Corsica is a safe space for Nick, although we are unsure whether he is of Corsican descent. Although, the French territorial island has a lot of US ex-pats.
Thus, Nick will hopefully find a good time there. Considering all the sides, we conclude Nick fulfills his dream of visiting Corsica rather than spending the five hundred thousand on further bets. Although, we know that Danny DeMarco’s influential Italian family should not live far from Corsica. Therefore, they can track down Nick in a prospective sequel. You may also wonder about the whereabouts of Holly, as she seemingly disappears from the picture in the movie’s second part. As Nick concentrates on the casino table, the film takes a drastic turn on his part. However, we think Holly is quite content with her share of 25,000 dollars. She may use the money to lay low from the thugs.
Read More: Where Was Wild Card Filmed?
