by Abe Carter
When you get home from work, what do you do? There are lots of things people like doing in their free time. Some like reading, others do sports. There are theatre-goers and those who prefer cinemas. Do you enjoy gambling or maybe you love movies? Why not combine some of them? You can watch films telling us amazing and thrilling stories about casinos and gamblers. There are lots of them really. Below we rated some of the most popular gambling films.
- The Sting
- Casino
- Casino Royale
- Ocean’s 11
- Rounders
- Atlantic City
- Hard Eight
- Croupier
- Maverick
- 21
Let us tell you about some of them.
The Sting, a film shot in 1973, tells us the story of two conmen who decided to avenge a mob boss for the death of their friend. The action takes place in Chicago in the 1930s. They elaborate a cheat involving card games. The performance keeps you entertained and in suspense in the entire film. This movie starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford and collected 7 Academy Awards, 1974.
The Gambler (1974) with James Caan is a film about a gambling addict who lost all his money. Then he borrows more and more money. Gambling results in self-destruction and tragedy. There are several versions of The Gambler, the last one was shot in 2014.
One more casino-related film is Atlantic City, 1980. This crime drama is about a young waitress named Sally Matthews (Susan Sarandon) and Lou Pascal (Burt Lancaster), an aging former gangster. Sally works in Atlantic City casino, but dreams of being a blackjack dealer in Monte Carlo. Behind gambling, drugs and slums, the director, Louis Malle shows a difference of characters, a deep psychological understanding, and the most important feeling that made us human – humanity. This movie was nominated for 5 big Academy Awards and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1980.
Rain Man is a masterpiece directed by Barry Levinson and starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The film was released in 1988 and become a global phenomenon. It is not a gambling film, but there is a vivid scene where Charlie and Raymond Babbitt are playing blackjack in Las Vegas. The movie got four Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing film of 1988.
Maverick is an old-fashioned film set in the American Old West. Bret Maverick (Mel Gibson) is a gambler who wants to take part in a five-card draw poker tournament in order to prove he is the best poker player of his time. This light and bright comedy was on in 1994. Maverick is about cheat, game, risk and love.
We can’t help remembering the other blockbuster of all times, Casino, 1995. This epic movie was directed by Martin Scorsese. It stars Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods. Watching this film, we go back to the 1970s and know more about casino hidden background. Casino is all about greed, deception, power, money, and murder. It was awarded several world film awards including Golden Globe Awards.
Ocean’s Thirteen is a third film in the Ocean’s franchise. The Ocean’s Trilogy tells us about Ocean and his friends who do the most ambitious and risky casino robbery in their lives.
2008 a new heist film was released. You know, one of the names of blackjack is 21 and 21 is a film about a team of young people who want to beat a casino. They use card counting and different signals to make their chances to win bigger. The film is based on the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team that was described in Bringing Down the House, the bestseller by Ben Mezrich.
Runner Runner [pictured] is an American film about online casino gambling. Released in 2013, the movie starred Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton. Richie Furst gambles online to fund his college education at Princeton. But he’s caught and is threatened with expulsion for doing so. He can’t pay for his education and decides to put everything in on one last game of poker, hoping to win enough and not to gamble any more.
Mississippi Grind, 2015 is the story of two friends who travel around the country and play at different casinos. Their ultimate goal is a big money game in New Orleans. This game must change their lives if they can pull off the win. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Sienna Miller.
| Film | Budget | Box office |
| The Sting | $5.5 million | $159.6 million |
| The Gambler | $25 – 31 million | $39.3 million |
| Atlantic City | $7.2 million | $12.7 million |
| Rain Man | $25 million | $354.8 million |
| Maverick | $75 million | $183 million |
| Casino | $40 – 50 million | $116.1 million |
| Ocean’s Thirteen | $85 million | $311.7 million |
| 21 | $35 million | $159.8 million |
| Runner Runner | $30 million | $62.7 million |
| Mississippi Grind | $7.1 million | $422.7 million |
You have a great opportunity to watch these great films, have fun and make your mind up.
