Best Movies That Take Place In Casinos

The flashing lights, the sirens, the hum of discussion, and the thrill of positioning a bet are all part of the attraction of casinos. While betting has been around for centuries, casinos began turning up in Italy in the 17th century. The Casino di Venezia, which opened in 1638 in Venice, is the world's oldest casino, though it was originally understood as Theatre Saint Moses. It provided guests the chance to bet throughout theatrical production intermissions.


By the 19th century, casinos appeared all over Europe. In the United States, towns like Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada, and Atlantic City in New Jersey, ended up being known for casinos and the infamous ties held to arranged criminal activity. Gambling itself had a credibility as a vice that might cause other bad habits.


Hollywood's own fascination with casinos has a long history too. Classic film "Casablanca" features a casino as part of Rick Blaine's bar. Throughout the next a number of decades, directors like Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Soderbergh attempted their hand at motion pictures about the appeal of betting and the casinos that supported the lifestyle.


OLBG researched the history of casinos on screen and put together a list of 20 of the very best gambling establishment films. To be consisted of, motion pictures needed to have important scenes take location in a casino, and the film had to have at least a 6.0 on IMDb or a 65 on Metacritic.


ATO Pictures


# 20. 'Casino Jack' (2010 )


- Director: George Hickenlooper
- IMDb user score: 6.2
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 108 minutes


This fictionalized retelling of a true story stars Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff, a corrupt Washington D.C. lobbyist encouraged by greed and power. Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon took funds from Native American gambling establishments all while twisting laws for their benefit. In a nod to the 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire," one scene finds Scanlon and Abramoff shrieking, "Show me the cash!" Actress Kelly Preston who plays Abramoff's other half in the film played Maguire's previous sweetheart as well.


# 19. 'Ocean's Twelve' (2004 )


- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 125 minutes


The follow up to "Ocean's Eleven" finds Danny Ocean including a partner to his band of burglars as they interact to pull off a number of European heists. Steven Soderbergh directed not just this second film in what would be a trilogy, but all three "Ocean's" installations. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Elliot Gould, and Bruce Willis not just starred in the film, but they also had another thing in common-they were all guest stars on the sitcom "Friends."


Warner Bros. Pictures # 18. 'Ocean's 11' (1960 )


- Director: Lewis Milestone
- IMDb user ranking: 6.6
- Metascore: 57
- Runtime: 127 minutes


Featuring the Rat Pack-Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop-" Ocean's 11," concentrates on 11 men who manage an incredible Las Vegas heist. Danny Ocean, played by Sinatra, leads his previous World War II pals in a strategy to rob several gambling establishments in a single night. This classic movie would be remade in 2001 with George Clooney taking over the role of Danny Ocean. Angie Dickinson played Danny Ocean's ex-wife in the 1960 movie, while Julia Roberts actioned in for the upgraded version in 2001.


Eon Productions


# 17. 'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971 )


- Director: Guy Hamilton
- IMDb user ranking: 6.6
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 120 minutes


The seventh movie in the James Bond film franchise, which was based upon the novels by Ian Fleming, stars Sean Connery as 007. The spy jets off to Las Vegas to investigate diamond smuggling and discovers a wealthy magnate and a nefarious plot. Connery was the first actor to play James Bond and starred in seven of the films. The Oscar-nominated movie was shot on area in Las Vegas at a number of gambling establishments including The Riviera, Tropicana Las Vegas, and Circus Circus Las Vegas.


TriStar Pictures


# 16. 'Bugsy' (1991 )


- Director: Barry Levinson
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 136 minutes


This film chronicled the life of notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel and his considerable role in structure modern Las Vegas. Starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, the two would fall in love throughout shooting, marry right after, and go on to have 4 children together. The film was chosen for an astonishing 10 Oscars and won two. While "Bugsy" lost for finest photo at the Oscars to "The Silence of the Lambs," it did handle to take home the Golden Globe Award for finest motion picture-drama.


Columbia Pictures


# 15. '21' (2008 )


- Director: Robert Luketic
- IMDb user score: 6.8
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 123 minutes


Under the tutelage of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, six MIT trainees were trained to end up being card counters and made a killing in Las Vegas in this film, which is loosely based upon the unique "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich. While many shooting locations were in Boston, consisting of the general public Garden, Boston University, and Newbury Street, Las Vegas was also an important filming area for "21." According to the Nevada Film Office, shooting happened in numerous Las Vegas gambling establishments, consisting of Planet Hollywood, The Venetian, Caesars Palace, Acid Rock Hotel, and Red Rock Casino.


Lions Gate Entertainment


# 14. 'The Cooler' (2003 )


- Director: Wayne Kramer
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 69
- Runtime: 101 minutes


An unfortunate guy is used by the mob to cool things down for high rollers who are on a winning streak at a Las Vegas gambling establishment till he gets fortunate in love, changing his own luck at the casino. Maria Bello, William H. Macy, and Alec Baldwin star in this film that was mainly shot in Reno, Nevada. Baldwin received both an Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting star for his role as casino boss Shelly Kaplow.


Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.


# 13. 'Ocean's Thirteen' (2007 )


- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 122 minutes


The final movie in the "Ocean's Eleven" trilogy, "Ocean's Thirteen" finds the gang getting together to pull off another heist after one of the original 11 is double-crossed by gambling establishment owner Willy Bank, who is played by famous star Al Pacino. One of the lines in the film, "You shook Sinatra's hand," is a recommendation to Frank Sinatra who played Danny Ocean in the initial variation of "Ocean's 11." The phrase is meant as a sort of values or gentleman's contract.


New Line Cinema


# 12. 'Boiler Room' (2000 )


- Director: Ben Younger
- IMDb user ranking: 7.0
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 120 minutes


When Seth Davis' daddy, a judge, catches him running a prohibited casino from his apartment or condo, he isn't pleased. Davis, played by Giovanni Ribisi, goes out and gets a task as a broker in a boiler space, which according to Dictionary.com is, "a location where illegal brokers take part in high-pressure selling, over the telephone, of securities of a highly speculative nature or of suspicious worth." The movie was loosely based on the story of Jordan Belfort who was the subject of the 2013 Martin Scorsese movie, "The Wolf of Wall Street," which was likewise the title of Belfort's memoir.


Sony Pictures Classics


# 11. 'Owning Mahowny' (2003 )


- Director: Richard Kwietniowski
- IMDb user score: 7.1
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 104 minutes


At the heart of this film is a tale of betting dependency. Based on the true story of Brian Molony, "Owning Mahowny" informs the tale of Dan Mahowny, a bank manager, who has access to multimillion dollar accounts that he utilized to feed his betting practice. The real-life Molony committed bank scams by embezzling $10.4 million from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The film, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as Mahowny, was filmed in Toronto and Atlantic City, where Molony in fact dropped $1.4 million at a New Jersey gambling establishment right before his arrest in 1982.


ARTE


# 10. 'Croupier' (1998 )


- Director: Mike Hodges
- IMDb user ranking: 7.1
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 94 minutes


Aspiring author Jack Manfred gets a job as a croupier, somebody who works the tables at a gambling establishment and manages bets and payouts. While Jack does not bet, his dad does, and it is he who gets Jack the job at a London gambling establishment. Portrayed by Clive Owen, Jack gets captured up in a love triangle and a plot to cheat the casino before the movie's end. The casino in the film was really developed on an embeded in Germany.


Paramount Pictures


# 9. 'The Gambler' (1974 )


- Director: Karel Reisz
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 111 minutes


James Caan stars as high-stakes gambler and English professor Axel Freed, who gets so captured up in betting that he offers a shylock his life for collateral against a loan. This crime thriller earned Caan an Oscar nod for best star. Screenwriter James Toback has lots of experience with betting and based the film's screenplay on his own addiction-though Freed's gambling seems a dependency to the rush and threat rather than to the act of betting. A 2014 remake of the film starred Mark Wahlberg ahead function.


Spelling Goldberg


# 8. 'California Split' (1974 )


- Director: Robert Altman
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 108 minutes


A casual bettor and an expert ended up being pals and dig themselves deeper into the world of wagering in this film starring Elliott Gould and George Segal. In a last desperate effort to win huge, the 2 characters head to Reno, Nevada, for the poker game to end all poker video games. "California Split" was the first non-Cinerama film to use the eight-track stereo for dialogue, enabling the recording of eight separate audio channels. The use of this innovation strengthened Altman's usage of overlapping dialogue, which ended up being one of his hallmarks as a director.


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer


# 7. 'Hard 8' (1996 )


- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 101 minutes


" Hard 8" marked director Paul Thomas Anderson's movie launching and was based on his brief movie "Coffee & Cigarettes." An expert bettor played by Philip Baker Hall, takes a novice played by John C. Reilly, under his wing. Things go okay until the amateur succumbs to Clementine, a cocktail waitress played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Several casinos in Reno and Sparks, Nevada, served as filming places, consisting of the Nugget Casino Resort.


Miramax


# 6. 'Rounders' (1998 )


- Director: John Dahl
- IMDb user ranking: 7.3
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 121 minutes


Not just does this movie star Matt Damon and Edward Norton, however the supporting cast is a show business who's who and includes John Malkovich, John Turturro, Martin Landau, and Famke Janssen. The story finds Damon's character, Mike McDermott, who is a reformed bettor, assisting his pal, played by Norton, who was recently launched from prison and who drags McDermott right back into the world he was trying to escape. A number of the film's areas were made to look like casinos or nation clubs, consisting of the fictional Chesterfield Club in the film.


United Artists


# 5. 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995 )


- Director: Mike Figgis
- IMDb user score: 7.5
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 111 minutes


Screenwriter and alcoholic Ben Sanderson, played by Nicolas Cage, heads to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There he meets a prostitute called Sera, depicted by Elisabeth Shue, who guarantees not to disrupt his plan, though things get complicated when they fall in love. The film is based upon John O'Brien's semi-autobiographical book. O'Brien died at 33, before production on the film began, and according to the author's dad, the unique acted as a morbid suicide note.


Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.


# 4. 'Gilda' (1946 )


- Director: Charles Vidor
- IMDb user score: 7.6
- Metascore: n/a
- Runtime: 110 minutes


Starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, this traditional film finds a small-time gambler getting captured up in dubious service when he discovers his previous enthusiast is wed to his existing company at a gambling establishment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The film was nominated for the Grand Prize of the Festival for feature movie at the Cannes Film Festival. Hayworth did not sing a word in the film, however rather, was talented at lip syncing. Anita Ellis was the singing voice behind Gilda.


Warner Bros.


# 3. 'Ocean's Eleven' (2001 )


- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user score: 7.7
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 116 minutes


A remake of the 1960 movie starring Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack, this version stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt with their own modern-day team, which includes Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, and Shaobo Qin. Like the original, the remake includes Danny Ocean and his buddies robbing 3 casinos at the exact same time. "Ocean's Eleven" got numerous nominations for best acting ensemble.


Danjaq. LLC/ United Artists/ Columbia Pictures


# 2. 'Casino Royale' (2006 )


- Director: Martin Campbell
- IMDb user ranking: 8.0
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 144 minutes


In his very first objective as super spy 007, Daniel Craig as James Bond must defeat an evil banker at Casino Royale, Montenegro, at high-stakes poker. The film acts as Bond's origin story though it was the 21st movie in the franchise and the third film adjustment of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel. "Casino Royale" was generally filmed in the Czech Republic of Karlovy Vary.


Universal Pictures


# 1. 'Casino' (1995 )


- Director: Martin Scorsese
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 178 minutes


This movie was the final one for Saul Bass who designed the title series. Bass was well known for his work that not only included numerous Scorsese movies consisting of "GoodFellas," and "Cape Fear," but classics such as "Psycho" and "Spartacus." Starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone, "Casino" was influenced by organized criminal offense associate and casino manager Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and concentrates on the relationship between a casino executive and a mob enforcer. Striving for authenticity, Scorsese shot at the Las Vegas Riviera, occupying a small section of the casino while real betting was occurring.