Best Casino Movies
Las Vegas and its casinos have always been an inspiration for
filmmakers looking to inject excitement and intrigue into their
movies. One of the most famous movies with a Las Vegas backdrop
is 1960's 'Ocean's Eleven', which sees the members of the
original 'Rat Pack' - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis -
planning to rob five of the top casinos in Vegas in just one
night. Things go according to plan - at least until after the
heists.
'Ocean's Eleven' was remade successfully in 2001 by Steven
Soderburgh, who cast George Clooney in the leading role of Danny
Ocean and Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Elliott Gould as gang
members, amongst others. The 2001 version updated the storyline
while still putting across the same glamorous image of Vegas as
in the first movie.
Nicolas Cage visited Las Vegas in 1992 for his film 'Honeymoon
in Vegas'. This comedy tells the story of Jack Singer (played by
Cage) who decides to wed his long-time partner Betsy (Sarah
Jessica Parker) in Vegas. However, when they arrive, Betsy is
spotted by a high-stakes gambler who decides he wants to spend a
weekend with her. He engages Singer in poker games in an attempt
to wrestle her from him. With Cage acting his best as the
love-struck bridegroom, James Caan as the sinister gambler, and
a number of parachuting Elvis impersonators, 'Honeymoon in
Vegas' offers plenty of laughs.
Matt Damon is Mike McDermott, one of the world's best poker
players in the 1998 film 'Rounders', who has given up the game
in order to concentrate on finishing law school. When his old
friend Worm (Edward Norton) is released from prison, he
persuades McDermott to return to the game in order to pay off
some bad debts he's accrued. McDermott consequently finds
himself playing in a series of poker games where the stakes are
forever increasing and the tension is forever building.
Finally, a list of casino movies is incomplete without a mention
of the 1995 Martin Scorcese movie 'Casino', which is considered
by many to be the definitive casino film. This tells the true
story of Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, a mobster who moves to Las Vegas
and becomes the operator of the Tangiers casino. Robert De Niro
makes the lead role his own, as Rothstein copes with marriage to
a drug addict (played by Sharon Stone) and friendship with Nicky
Santoro (Joe Pesci), a fellow mobster slowly spiralling into a
world of violence.