What’s that saying? It never happens like this in the movies? Well, as far as the casinos are concerned it certainly doesn’t! With the huge rise of online gambling and with sites like Online Casino Cruise so easily accessible, Hollywood have spent decades trying to create the perfect casino themed movies but there are a precious few that stick out in our minds – all thanks to very specific scenes; here’s our favourites:
Casino
There’s something about cinematic violence that keeps an audience hooked on a character’s every word and Casino is no different as Robert Di Niro’s ‘Ace Rothstein’ proves. Di Niro’s performance is superb from start to finish but one scene lives longer in the memory than others:
An obvious casino rule; don’t take your shoes off and don’t put your feet on the table otherwise you’ll find yourself on the way out of the building; more than likely head first.
Casino Royale
How could a Bond film not make it onto the list? It seems that the franchise was desperate to change the general perception of Bond from womanising smart alec to cool and calculated – unbelievably, it worked!
Probably the best scene in the entire film is the final hand of the high stakes Poker game in which Vesper Lynd informs Bond that he needs to win otherwise the British government will have directly funded terrorism and 007 duly obliges by trumping Mads Mikkelsen’s hand at the turn of a card – game over Mikkelsen!
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie knows how to make a film capture the hearts and minds of the nation but we first learned of his directing prowess courtesy of Lock, Stock – a film that tells a very unusual story but it’s all about how you tell them.
Easily some of the wittiest exchanges ever committed to film are tucked away in Lock, Stock’s runtime but the tension Ritchie creates in the card game scenes is unmatched by any film we’ve ever witnessed. Hardly a casino but a rip roaring card game nonetheless.
Rain Man
What else could sit atop this list? Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in 80’s casino themed super movie, Rain Man, follows the exploits of estranged brothers Charlie and Raymond Babbitt as they hit the road in pursuit of recovering Charlie’s debt to a creditor over some iffy Lambourghinis.
As it transpires, Raymond has an unusual syndrome, not dissimilar to Autism, and must adhere to a strict routine to avoid distress but he is capable of instantly counting objects akin to a mental calculator.
Obviously, Charlie takes Raymond to Las Vegas wherein he asks his estranged brother to count cards at a Blackjack table – Raymond does as he is asked and Charlie makes enough to cover his debts before being asked to leave by the casino.
The film on the whole is a very touching affair but the casino scene offers a unique insight into the mind of a mental calculator – don’t try and replicate the card counting at home; you’re unlikely to prosper with a six deck shoe!
