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 Gambler - 1974 | |
 | THE GAMBLER, directed by Karel Reisz, stars James Caan in a difficult role as Alex Freed, a compulsive gambler with many inner demons, who is completely out of control. He can't resist a bad bet because that's where the "juice" is. While his irrational rationalizations--largely influenced by Dostoyevsky, whose novel, THE GAMBLER, he teaches to his students at City College--might seem like a lot of existential hot air, they are well dramatized, making his descent downward believable even as his actions become increasingly frenetic. Reisz provides a sound realism to the THE GAMBLER's settings both in Las Vegas and on the streets of New York. Made at the same time as Robert Altman's CALIFORNIA SPLIT, which attempted to visually create the internal world of the compulsive gambler, here Reisz presents a gritty realism to the world of bookies, loan sharks, and their violent enforcers. He relies on Caan, generally a more physical actor, to portray the cultured intellectual who loves Mahler, but is obsessed with danger. Caan starts slowly, and with the help of Lauren Hutton in a good performance as Billie, his predictable blond girlfriend, he illuminates the world of gambling in this tense, realistic film. |
| 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. |
| Essential Roulette: A Guide for Players and Dealers - 2006 | |
 | This comprehensive guide to the risky and exciting game of roulette covers everything from rules to betting options, giving viewers at home the skills they'll need to hit the roulette table with confidence. |