The gambling movies tend to fall into three categories: soap operas that use casinos as a backdrop, like Indecent Proposal, Havana, Leaving Las Vegas, and Showgirls; the Great Vegas Heist, like Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13, The Good Thief, even a movie like The Sting; and compulsive gamblers like Let It Ride, James Caan’s The Gambler, and California Split. There are also mob movies, like The Cooler and Bugsy. And then there’s the fluff, like Viva Las Vegas, Vegas Vacation, Honeymoon in Vegas.
And there's only one way on Earth for Hollywood to do a deep, dark, gritty, edgy, authentic, theme-driven movie (or episodic TV series) centered on the casino business and its people -- and that's to let Vegas do it. It has to be inside and only Vegas really knows Vegas. Problem is, Hollywood thinks it knows Vegas. But it doesn't.
A lot of writers come to Vegas for a weekend or a week or two weeks or even three months, six months max, that's the upper limit, and think they've got the whole place all figured out. And then they write their movie (or article or book or TV show). And then the insiders take a look and what do they find? Another wannabe, another poseur, celebrating his or her newfound knowledge about the place.
It doesn't work that way. This town's been doing what it does for more than 85 years. There are so many undercurrents in this town, it's mind-boggling.
Take a typical blackjack table. Everyone's playing a different game. One guy's a comp wizard, trying to slow things down so he can get more credit for time-in-game. Another is a card counter who's trying to move his bets up and down without getting caught. A third is a compulsive gambler who doesn't care if he wins or loses, so long as he can be in the action. A fourth is a first-timer who's just trying not to make a fool of himself. A fifth thinks he's James Bond and is trying to look real cool for his girlfriend who's hanging over him. And, of course, the dealer has his own thing going on, and the floorman, and the pit boss, and the host …
So the show has to be complex. Complexity is key. You need a ton of characters, all tightly woven into intricate relationships. The characters have to arc in every direction and intersect all over the place. Lots of subtlety, slow-developing scenarios, and six degrees of separation. You have to plumb the depths of these characters, hidden meanings all over the place.
Also, the movie has to be edgy, gritty, dark. These casinos don't have a drop of natural light. Dark and dim restaurants -- only in this millennium have Vegas restaurants gotten airy. Smoky bars. Strip joints. Limos. Dark penthouses. This town happens at night. After all, the Vegas themes are basic, elemental: the primal appetites. Most of them aren't too pretty in the light of day. The whole thing needs a sort of subterranean feel.
And speaking of themes, it has to tackle the tough issues. Gambling. Sex, which includes prostitution. Alcohol and drugs. Addiction across the board. Money mania. Greed. The desert. The night.
All this is practically impossible to do in a 90-minute feature movie. That's why Vegas movies barely scratch the surface.
NBC's "Las Vegas" with James Caan might've gotten it close to right, if not completely correct. It was serial episodic ensemble TV, and it was very popular. There was only one problem with it. It was bogus. It was all wrong. It was "The Young and Beautiful." Cotton candy, sickly sweet, dumbed-down, superficial, happy-face brightly lit bullshit.
Don't hold your breath for a good Las Vegas movie or TV show.
End of sermon.