Movies about gambling can be triggers for anyone with a problematic relationship to betting. Nevertheless, there are some films that capture the suspense of the casino experience.
From professional poker players to the mafia that once ruled the casinos, this list of top gambling movies showcases the very best films ever made.
The Gambler (1995)
The Gambler opens with a death threat on the bedside of college English professor Jim Bennett (Wahlberg). He's tens of thousands of dollars in debt at an underground casino, and he has seven days to pay off the man who owns it. So he borrows money from his rich mother (Jessica Lange) and heads back to the tables, where he loses even more.
A remake of Karel Reisz's under the radar 1974 movie starring a post Godfather James Caan, Rupert Wyatt's The Gambler succeeds in capturing some of its chilly atmosphere but doesn't add much to it. Screenwriter William Monahan gives Wahlberg snappy lines to chew on, but the actor fails to find a balance between his higher-minded intellectual life and his self destructive gambling impulses. The film also feels more like a thriller than a drama. Still, it's a solid entry in the genre, and Wahlberg is compelling as always. The violence is fairly jarring and a little too overwrought, but it serves its purpose.
Maverick (1994)
In this light western Mel Gibson proves he can do more than action flicks, and Jodie Foster makes it clear she's just as good at comedy as she is feisty con-merchants or high-stakes poker. William Goldman's script recycles several distinctive elements of the genre (Indians, sinister-looking killers, symbolic scenery like the saloon and banks, old habits like drinking, gambling and gunfighting) but adds a zany inflection.
The main story revolves around Bret Maverick (Gibson) trying to raise $25,000 for the high-stakes poker tournament, but he's constantly having one misadventure after another. He's up against macho bad guy Angel (Alfred Molina), a gang of riverboat gamblers and Marshal Zane Cooper (James Garner, the original TV Maverick).
Director Donner plays fast and loose with many conventions. The movie is slapstick, with fist fights, an attempted hanging and even a tete-a-tete with rattlesnakes. Graham Greene and Danny Glover, from Lethal Weapon, make guest appearances that help bolster the laughs.
Casino (1995)
Following the success of Goodfellas, Scorsese returned with this documentary-style movie about the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas casinos. He and Nicholas Pileggi adapted this true story from the book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, which was itself inspired by the real-life story of mobster Frank Rosenthal. Casino is a little less flamboyant than Goodfellas, but it still packs an entertaining wallop.
The film features a strong cast led by Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. Both are excellent, especially as the two friends who become partners in crime. The story has shades of Mean Streets and other Scorsese gangster films, but it is mostly its own thing, a tale about success and its subsequent problems.
This is a very smart, well-acted film. While it doesn't rank with the likes of Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, it is a great showcase for Scorsese's incomparable film sense. He is a master of movement, angles and framing so that the movie always seems to be moving forward.
The Cincinnati Kid (1930)
A cocky young upstart (Steve McQueen) takes on the reigning high-stakes poker master in Depression-era New Orleans. Directed by Norman Jewison, this high-stakes drama features a solid cast that includes Karl Malden as the conflicted "Man" and Edward G. Robinson as the ruthless "Kid" who has a reputation for taking no prisoners.
In the poker scenes the camera cuts suspensefully to players' intent faces, and there is a good mix of believable tension, comedy and pathos. There is also a sexy subplot with a nymphomaniac female gambler (Tuesday Weld) and Shooter's lustful wife Melba (Ann-Margret, at her sex kitten peak).
The film was almost made by Sam Peckinpah before he turned it down. He probably wouldn't have been right for it. Spencer Tracy would have been better as the upstart, but Robinson fits the part perfectly, balancing civilized charm with a hard-edged cold skill. The movie was originally shot in black and white, but was changed to color at the last minute.
