It’s said that all of the greatest movie stars can make the camera fall in love with them. But something else that the camera is undoubtedly besotted by is the casino. There’s something about these places that make them a natural for filmmakers, in fact there are plenty of things.
Firstly, they’re uniquely glamorous locations that are also full of action. From spinning roulette wheels to slots games flashing enticingly, they make for a great background to the action. Then there’s the drama of the games themselves. We see characters winning and losing fortunes on the turn of a card thus reversing their role in the movie.
The fact that conflict lies at the heart of all drama also makes them a great place for adversaries to face off against each other. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the first of out audacious moves.
Casino Royale
The James Bond franchise was definitely seen as a flagging and out-dated thing at the end of the Pierce Brosnan era in 2002. But four years later it was revived by the arrival of Daniel Craig in the role. He’s since gone on to show himself as an actor who can be convincing as almost any character but initially people were sceptical. However, if they needed any convincing that he had what took to be 007 the casino scene in Casino Royale clinched. In a tense poker game against arch-enemy Le Chiffre he overcomes poisoning and near death from cardiac arrest to win the game with a Royal Flush – and millions of euros in prize money.
Rain Man
The 1988 movie from director Barry Levinson saw the unlikely pairing of veteran actor Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in one of his earliest big screen appearances. Cruise plays a flaky con-man called Charlie Babbitt with Hoffman taking the role as his neurodivergent brother Raymond. The heavily in debt Charlie sees a way to solve his money problems by using Raymond’s incredible ability to count cards in blackjack. The film inspired countless new players who wanted to try their luck, resulting in a surge of popularity for the game. If you’re unsure where to play blackjack online and you’re relatively new to the game, it’s a good idea to check out the casinos offering bonuses so you aren’t feeling the pressure Raymond is under. The quick cuts and meticulous editing as Raymond amasses a five figure fortune make for a tense and unforgettable scene.
Run Lola Run
Not many people have seen this experimental German thriller from 1998, but it was good enough to have won the Audience Award at the year’s Sundance Festival. It’s experimental in that it sets up a situation – Lola’s boyfriend has lost a bag of money and risks being killed if he doesn’t repay his gangster boss – and presents three different ways the story could play out. Coincidentally, a film with a similar device called Sliding Doors came out in the same year but was far less dramatic. In Run Lola Run one of the stories involves Lola running into a casino with her last few marks. She exchanges these for roulette chips and, three times running, her chosen number of 20 comes up. She wins nearly 130.000 marks and her boyfriend is saved.
Ocean’s Eleven
Director Steven Soderbergh assembled an all-star-cast in his 2001 remake of the Rat Pack original with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt to name just a few. The whole movie leads up to the nerve-shredding scene when the gang led by Clooney pull off the audacious robbery of millions of dollars from the iconic Bellagio casino. Everything about the heist from the script to the acting to the editing fits together like a perfectly-oiled machine. So it’s no wonder that this also served to spark off a number of sequels, most recently 2018’s all-female Ocean’s 8 starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Rihanna.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
No-one said all casino scenes have to be serious – and the 1997 Austin Powers movie proves it. Pitted against Robert Wagner’s character in a game of blackjack Powers pretends he knows how to play – and Wagner is cheating. Dealt 17, a hand which traditional strategy suggests you should stick on, he takes another card. He can do this because hi X-Ray eye patch shows him it’s four so he beats the dealer with 21 and explains that “I like to live dangerously”. Then it’s Austin’s turn to play. Dealt a three and a two he says he’ll stick there, with an almost certain losing hand and explains, “I also like to live dangerously”. It’s just one funny moment in a movie that is packed with mocking but affectionate digs at the spy movie genre.
There are many other famous movie scenes set in casinos, but none quite match these for their sheer audacity of the filmmakers in knowing what’s really going to work on-screen.
