Mississippi Grind is a 2015 American drama written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Sienna Miller, Ben Mendelsohn, Analeigh Tipton, Alfre Woodard and Robin Weigert.
The Main Story
The story is about Gerry ( Ben Mendelsohn ) who is a real estate agent and struggling gambler. He meets a young gambler called Curtis ( Ryan Reynolds ) at a casino in Dubuque, Iowa. They land up chatting and have a heavy night of drinking.
The 2 of them go to a dog track and win a large bet which Gerry gambles away. They move on to a bar and drunkenly bet $1000 on a pool game and land up getting kicked out of the bar. Curtis tells Gerry that “Machu Picchu time” is approaching, a phrase that he frequently uses when he leaves town.
Gerry and Curtis go on a gambling trip down the Mississippi River. Gerry plays Texas Hold ’em Poker while Curtis reunites with Simone, a prostitute.
In Memphis, Gerry plays well at Texas Hold ’em but loses everything on the final “river” card. However, he lies to Curtis and tells him that he won $7,000.
Curtis discovers his lie and has him beat up in the parking lot.
Nevertheless, they continue their journey and sell Gerry’s car to go to a horse race in New Orleans. They lose their money. Gerry finds another casino and bets the last of his money on roulette and blackjack and wins.
Curtis arrives at Gerry’s blackjack table, and Gerry shares his chips with him. They went on to win over half-million dollars.
The Ending
The following morning Curtis finds that Gerry has gone, but left him half of the money. On the table, there is a note that says “It’s Machu Picchu time”. Curtis heads off to Peru, and Gerry repurchases his car from the dealership and drives off, listening to the gambling tape he had left in the tape deck.
Guy Ritchie wrote and produced Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. It is a British crime comedy film starring Dexter Fletcher, Jason Flemyng, Nick Moran, Steven Mackintosh, Jason Statham Vinnie Jones and Sting.
The film is about a young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a three-card brag game which was rigged. He and his friends decide to rob the gang next door to pay off his debt.
The Main Story
Eddie, Tom, Soap, and Bacon are long-time friends who decide to club together to raise £100,000 so that Eddie, their card sharp friend can play in a high stakes three-card brag game run by Harry Lonsdale, a crime lord. However, Harry has rigged the game, and Eddie lands up owing him £500,000.
Harry likes a pair of expensive antique shotguns that are up for auction and gets his enforcer Barry “the Baptist” to hire two thieves, to steal them for him. By mistake, the thieves sell the shotguns to someone else called Nick “the Greek”.
One day Eddie overhears his criminal neighbours planning a heist on some cannabis growers. Eddie and his friends decide to rob the neighbours when they return from their heist.
Tom goes to Nick the Greek to buy guns and lands up with the two antique shotguns.
The neighbours’ heist is a success, and they return with bags of money. Eddie and his friends rob them as planned and drive off with the money.
The movie proceeds with many different characters all chasing each other to get their hands on the cash. In the end, the friends were robbed of the money but are left with the two antique guns.
The Ending
The friends are arrested but declared innocent due to lack of evidence. However, they still need to dispose of the guns, not realising their value until the last minute. The movie ends with Tom about to throw the guns in the Thames while his friends desperately try to phone him.
Croupier is a 1998 dark British movie set in the sinister and shadowy 1970s. It was directed by Mike Hodges and starred Clive Owen.
Croupier focuses on a struggling writer employed at a Casino as a croupier and strategically placed between the pit bosses and the bettors. It’s the movie that launched Clive Owen’s career.
The Main Story
Jack (Clive Owens) depicts a man damaged by his gambling father, a drunk and a womanizer. His father gets him a job as a croupier at a London casino. Jack soon becomes a skilled card manipulator with complete indifference to the player’s losses and wins and it’s only for as long as their shifts last.
Owens depicts a cold, controlled man who doesn’t gamble; however, he does not gamble at casino games of chance, but he places high-risk bets in his personal life.
Jack writes a book about an unfeeling croupier who gets a kick out of watching gamblers lose at the tables. The book was, in essence, based on his own life.
Over the years he gets drawn into the seedy side of the casino world of cheating, drinking and sleeping around.
The Ending
By the end of the movie, he juggles relationships with three women whilst scheming to defraud the casino.
Towards the end of the movie, Jack finishes his book and gets it published anonymously. It becomes a bestseller, but he continues to work as a croupier and live in his basement flat. He didn’t even buy himself a new car.
Croupier is a gambling movie with a twist and viewers get more than they bargained for with its unexpected ending. The message people take away with them in Croupier is about individuals trying to control and anticipate the odds of their lives similar to gamblers who are always trying to beat the odds.