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We often hear people talking about the best and most iconic gambling-related movies of all time. You have your Ocean's Eleven, casino royales, rounders, and many other iconic masterpieces. Almost everyone loves these movies, and they have a great cast, so it is natural that it appears in conversation.
But something we very seldom talk about is the real stinkers, the worst casino movies related to the beloved gambling industry. Since this is a rather unexplored topic, we figured it could be quite exciting to dive deeper and see some of the worst sides of Hollywood’s portrayal of the gambling world.
This article will go over three of the worst casino-related movies of all time and save you from the mistake of ruining a perfect movie night.
Runner Runner | ||||||
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IMBD Rate: | Release Year: | Genre: | Length: | Director: | Budget: | Gross Worldwide: |
5.6/10 | 2013 | Crime, Drama | 90 min | Brad Furman | $30,000,000 | $62,675,095 |
I remember watching the trailer of this movie, thinking that it looked so promising. The movie had a great cast with big names like Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Anthony Mackie, yet the movie failed to deliver. With an upbeat trailer that gives the impression of being on the edge of your seat, the truth could not be further away. It seems like everyone is in a consensus about the movie; rotten tomato indicates that the movie only has a measly 9%.
Just to provide you with a run-down of the movie and save you 90 minutes, Justin Timberlake’s character, Richie, a bright Princeton grad student, gets duped on an online casino by the millionaire Tycoon Ivan Block played by Ben Affleck. To get his money back, Richie takes an unexpected trip to Costa Rica to confront the casino tycoon.
Instead of getting his money back, Richie gets lured into Ivans sketchy degenerate world characterized by greed and illegal activities. It does not take long until Richie has the feds on his tail, pressuring him to take Ivan down. Richie finds himself in a compromising situation, where he has to make the cliché” ultimate gamble of his life” to come out on top unscathed.
I am not going to lie; the movie’s premise is great because it provides the opportunity to explore the casino world outside the physical brick-and-mortar building. However, the movie fumbles the ball and comes out with a not-so-great product.
Besides the main idea, the script does not feel very carefully written with an uneven pace, making it hard to relate to the characters, and it never really engages you on any level. When watching movies, you are supposed to be swooped up in emotion and rot for the hero. In this movie, you hardly care what happens.
It does not help the script that the acting and chemistry between Timberlake and Affleck are abysmal and virtually non-existent. Both actors looked none interested in being on set, which is such a shame because both actors have the caliber of being A-list Hollywood actors. So before you waste your time, stay away from this movie.
Ocean's Twelve | ||||||
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IMBD Rate: | Release Year: | Genre: | Length: | Director: | Budget: | Gross Worldwide: |
6.5/10 | 2004 | Crime, Thriller | 125 min | Steven Soderbergh | $110,000,000 | $362,989,076 |
You probably figured that this movie would be on here, didn’t you? Well, we had no choice. Many of us have seen the first installment of two Ocean's movies, and the odds are that you liked it. The first movie had everything, a star-loaded cast that packed a punch and a brilliant script to match the star power. So naturally, you think, how wrong could they go with a sequel. Well, you do not want to find out.
We do not want to call it a total flop, but it feels like night and day in comparison to the first movie. That is what makes the blow hit so much harder because you keep comparing Ocean's Twelve with its predecessor.
Anyway, the movie features the same loveable crew as the first movie, so you can hardly complain about the chemistry between the cast. However, what kills the movie is the lacklustre script. The crew blew all the money that they successfully stole from the first movie. Terry Benedict, played by Andy Garcia, wants his stolen money returned, so the gang is again forced to pull off a series of robberies, but this time in Europe.
The script is dull, it does not bring anything new to the table, and it just lacks that spark of brilliance that the first movie had. It feels like the movie is riding the coattails of strong name recognition and pure star power. Unfortunately, this was not enough to save the film. The movie is not unwatchable, but your time is better spent on something else.
Hangover 3 | ||||||
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IMBD Rate: | Release Year: | Genre: | Length: | Director: | Budget: | Gross Worldwide: |
5.8/10 | 2013 | Comedy, Crime | 100 min | Todd Phillips | $103,000,000 | $249,800,000 |
Perhaps this doesn’t constitute a pure casino movie, but we insist on including it anyway since it was so gut-wrenchingly poor compared to its two brilliant predecessors. The iconic wolf-gang Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), Stu (Ed Helms), and Dough (Justin Bartha) return to Las Vegas to capture Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), who escaped from prison.
The movie diverts from its original premise of the guys getting blackout drunk and waking up the next day trying to puzzle together their last night bender. Perhaps repeating this proven formula for a last and final movie would have been too repetitive, but the script managed to escape too much from the franchise’s roots. It tries its best to reel us in with returning characters and nostalgic locations from the first movie.
However, it just feels like the film was forced to milk as much money as possible at the box office. The storyline feels like a stretch when it tries to connect back to certain scenes in the first movie, and it doesn’t feel natural at all. The only thing the movie got going for it is the great characters developed and established throughout the first two movies.
So is it unwatchable? No, not really, but if you start the film expecting something near The Hangover 1 or 2, it will feel like a gut punch.
There are plenty of movies that touch the casino/gambling premise, so you can 100% do a lot better than watching any of the films above. If you are in the mood to watch a gambling movie, we strongly urge you to stray away from these three. Your time is much better spent on another movie.