This question arises from the QoD of 3/27/2006, when we wrote, "There has rarely been a well-conceived and accurate small- or large-screen portrayal of casino gambling." (We invite QoD readers to submit their favorite gambling movies and justify them in terms of accuracy and scrupulousness with the facts and details, or to cite the worst gambling movies.)
We received several responses, which we reprint below.
"With regards to the question of movies that accurately portray gambling in Las Vegas, I can't help you. Never saw a good one. But I did see an episode of the CBS TV show 'Numb3rs' this year that did a very good job of explaining how blackjack card counting works. It was so realistic that when they finally caught the folks, it turned out that their ridiculously high win rate was due to cheating, rather than mere card counting. And the show took the time to explain a realistic and intricate cheating scheme that, with the right inside people, just might work. But probably not!"
"My favorite gambling scene in any movie would have to be from Rainman. Not too realistic, but it did get me interested in gambling and Las Vegas."
"My favorite gambling movie (well, one of them): A Big Hand For A Little Lady, set in a saloon in the Old West, the yearly big poker game for some big-time players. Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Burgess Meredith, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, other terrific actors I'm forgetting at the moment. Sorry that I can't justify it for accuracy ... who knows how it was back then? But there's top acting, great entertainment, and a surprise ending. I suspect there's some truth to it, in that somebody outfoxes somebody, and for some big money (in case you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil it for you)." Note: In a similar discussion, Bob Stupak once told Anthony Curtis that he felt this was one of the best gambling movies. And, ironically, Stupak had a part in what was (by his own admission) one of the worst films ever made on gambling, Fever Pitch, starring Ryan O'Neal.
"I loved Ocean's Eleven, the George Clooney version, but honestly, they really took liberties! The 'vault,' how those guys got around Bellagio in places where they weren't supposed to, blowing the power out on the whole Strip, bungee-jumping down the drop to the vault while avoiding the motion detectors ... There's just too much that would never happen in a million years. However, no movie would ever make it on everyday true life, and I still love this movie. Who needs real life anyway ... we get enough of that every day!"
"IMHO, the best (most accurate) depiction of gambling has to be the Philip Seymour Hoffman movie based on a true story: Owning Mahowny. Another small film featuring Hoffman in a brief but memorable role would be my second choice: Hard Eight. Both films were small on box office, but big on accuracy and acting talent. Some artistic license is used in both films, but to good effect."
Finally, someone sent us this excerpt from a review of California Split, written by Lucia Bozzola from the All Movie Guide.
"The most narratively loose of Robert Altman's '70s films, California Split details the haphazard lives of two compulsive gamblers searching for that ever-elusive big score. Newly single and soon-to-be-unemployed Bill (George Segal) joins live-wire pal Charlie (Elliott Gould) as the pair moves from Fruit Loops with Charlie's hooker roommates Sue (Gwen Welles) and Barbara (Ann Prentiss) to bets on horses, backroom card games, boxing, and basketball. They make it to Reno, but Bill comes to realize that even the big score may not be the answer to the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life. For Charlie, however, that's all there is. Infusing his episodic narrative with an equally laid-back attitude toward events and emotions, Altman produces a 'celebration of gambling' that is in itself something of a game, filled with random incidents, trivial and serious, amusing and not, that emphasize the essential rootlessness of the gambler's life. Altman's signature mosaic of sound, produced for the first time through a multi-track stereo soundtrack, layers dialogue, gambling announcements, and Phyllis Shotwell songs to evoke the chaotic gaming atmosphere as authentically as possible. Gambling may seem more exciting than the depressive Bill's drab office job, but its pleasures are strictly temporary. Everything becomes transient, whether luck or marriage or even friendship between like-minded pals."
