Top Three Gambling Movies
Here are our picks for the top three gambling movies for today.Welcome to my page of the latest Feature Movie Reviews. This page will be constantly updated with three new movie descriptions for those of you who don't really know where to start when looking for a gambling movie. Here, you'll find three great gambling movies, picked from the extensive list of gambling movies on this site. Hopefully this short list will at least give you at starting point if you want to watch a gambling movie. On the other hand, you might just be looking for a new gambling movie to watch, and this page might just give you the title of one you've never watched before. Or you saw it long ago, and have forgotten about it until now, that is. So have a look at this list of gambling movies, and if you have a gambling movie in mind that you think should be featured on this page. I'll definitely take your suggestion into account when I'm renewing the information on this page. Enjoy!
| The Good Thief - 2002 | |
 | Irish director Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME, MICHAEL COLLINS) and veteran actor Nick Nolte combine their talents for this breezy heist picture. Bob (Nolte) is a retired master thief and gambler living as an expatriot in France. His past robberies are the stuff of underworld legend, but he's given it all up, and fallen into a twilight life of heroin addiction and seedy gambling dens. Then a chance encounter with an attractive young runaway (Nutsa Kukhianidze) inspires him to clean up his act and take one last big job; an elaborate modern art heist at a swanky Riviera casino. Standing in his way is a cagey police inspector (Tchéky Karyo) who is determined to bring him down, even though the two are longtime friends. The twisty caper plotting compliments a fun cast (including Emir Kusturica and Gérard Darmon as two of Bob's brothers in crime), clever dialogue, stylish direction, and pretty Riviera scenery. Loosely modeled on Jean Pierre Melville's BOB LE FLAMBEUR, this is something of a pet project for Jordan and it's obvious he's invested himself into every detail of the production. The result is both elegant and warmly quirky. As for Nolte, he seems to be having a terrific time; the charming old rascal role fits him perfectly, and Kukhianidze proves his match with an aplomb beyond her years. Ralph Fiennes has a small role as a disreputable art dealer. |
| Ocean's Eleven - 2001 | |
 | George Clooney's all-star remake of the Rat Pack romp is as much a heist film as it is a gambling flick. Along with the pure fun of seeing such an array of talent gathered on one screen, the movie is also a great look at the intricate security measures of a modern Vegas casino. Clooney is con artist Danny Ocean, who's barely out on parole when he's planning his next big gig: he and pal Rusty (Pitt) will assemble a skilled crew of thieves--including cool cats Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and Carl Reiner--to bypass an impossible series of high-tech security measures and bust into a main vault holding $150 million from three casinos (the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mirage) on the night of a heavyweight boxing bout. Ocean has another agenda: the casinos his crew will hit are owned by tough guy Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who's dating Danny's ex, Tess (Roberts). Danny not only wants his share of the $150 mil, he wants Tess back and Benedict humiliated by the public loss of cash and girl. "When that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, then you take the house," Danny tells Rusty. The jackpot scene: Director Steven Soderbergh's exciting, cleverly choreographed heist scene, which involves gaining access to casino money cages, passing through a set of locked doors with codes that change twice a day, getting down an elevator that requires fingerprint identification (and which is surrounded by motion detectors), voice confirmation from two security sources and the nimble maneuverings of a 95-pound Chinese acrobat. Not to mention slipping past two uzi-armed guards and "the most elaborate vault door conceived by man." |
| Ocean's Twelve - 2004 | |
 | Back in slick style, OCEAN'S TWELVE reintroduces Ocean (George Clooney) and his perfectly trained team of con men, who are determined to take on Europe. Dividing forces to hit Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome, the heist-meisters move beyond casinos to tackle new objectives, one of which involves stealing a famous painting. With OCEAN'S TWELVE, Steven Soderbergh re-teams with his high profile friends for another glamorous romp through the high-stakes underworld. Three years after Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his crew robbed Las Vegas casino tycoon Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) of one hundred sixty million dollars, Benedict has finally tracked them down. He gives them a two-week ultimatum to come up with the money or suffer the consequences. Knowing that the odds are stacked against them, the gang nonetheless heads to Amsterdam for a big heist. But what no one realizes is that ultra-smooth Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) has ulterior motives for leading the gang to Amsterdam. Turns out his former flame, Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), is living and working there tracking criminals such as Ocean and French master Francois Toulour (Vincent Cassel), better known as "The Night Fox." Threatened by the universally admired eleven, Toulour challenges Ocean to a dangerous museum heist that will either make or break the gang once and for all. It's up to Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts) to fly into town and bail the boys out of trouble. Every frame of OCEAN'S TWELVE is bursting with gleeful energy, as is the film's soundtrack, provided by acclaimed musician David Holmes. |