Introduction
The Big Town is a 1987 American neo-noir thriller movie based on the novel “The Arm”. It is about a country boy that turns crapshooter in Chicago in the 1950s. It was directed by Ben Bolt and starred Matt Dillon as JC Cullen, Diane Lane as Lorry Dane. Other cast members are Tommy Lee Jones, George Cole, and a mighty strip joint owner with some shady connections.
The Main Story
Cullen, a farm boy from Iowa, arrives in Chicago with a talent for winning at craps and becomes a constant winner at the craps tables because he knows the odds and has lady luck on his side. Many playing on the best australia online casino no doubt feel the same way. In the movie, Cullen breaks the bank at a private craps game at the Gem Club owned by George Cole. As time passes, he becomes the pawn of two high rolling professional gamblers Mr. & Mrs Edwards. Added to this, he also becomes involved in two torrid relationships. One with Lorry Dane the embittered stripper wife of Cole and the other with the nice girl Aggie Donaldson. Cullen nearly loses his life at one point in this gambling film when he lands up in the middle of a feud between Edwards, Cole and Carpenter, the man suspected of blinding Edwards.
The Ending
The Big Town is somewhat ‘by numbers’. The bad girl is rejected, the good girl is embraced, the villain is defeated, and Cullen wins back his independence. It’s a great-looking, stylish movie, and the cast never put a foot wrong wrong in bringing this era to life on the big screen. Although the storyline is predictable, the style will have viewers on their edge of their seats waiting for outcomes at the craps table and more. A brilliant gambling movie and a definite must-watch.
The movie was ironically something of a box office flop and earned less than $2 million. This can often be the case with movies though, especially when they are niche, and certainly doesn’t mean that they aren’t much appreciated in the years following.
Two for the Money is a 2005 USA sports gambling film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Matthew McConaughey, Al Pacino, Armand Assante, Rene Russo, and Carly Pope.
The Main Story
Brandon Lang ( Matthew McConaughey ) is a former football star who suffers a career-ending injury and is forced to take on a job handicapping football games. He has a tremendous hit rate when it comes to selecting winners, and due to this, he catches the eye of Walter Abrams ( Al Pacino ). Abrams is the head of one of the biggest sports consulting firms in the USA.
He takes Lang under his wing, and soon they are making big money, and Lang starts leading the good life with a new car, new look and wardrobe.
However, things start going South when Lang starts playing his hunches instead of doing his homework. He starts to lose his all perspective and gets beaten by thugs hired by a gambler who lost a large sum of money due to his bad advice. Abrams and Lang’s relationship soon starts to sour as Lang’s new high rolling lifestyle and erratic predictions do not go down well and begin to cause problems.
The Ending
By the time Lang places his last bet there are millions at stake, making Abrams a recovering alcoholic and gambling addict extremely unstable. However, Lang’s predictions come true in the final game, determined by flipping a coin in the bathroom for both games.
He eventually leaves New York taking a job as a coach for a junior league football team, and this is how the film concludes, rather profound and thought-provoking in terms of its ups and downs.
The movie received average reviews from the critics as they felt that the story played out in a somewhat disjointed fashion. Still casino fans and visitors to https://www.gamblingsitesreview.com/ review sites and the like love a gambling movie or two, so there’s certainly an audience for this. The box office takings at the time were $35 million (under the movie’s budget), but on account of its theme and household name actors, it’s not uncommon to see shown on TV and available on streaming services.
Smokin’ Aces is a dark comedy action thriller movie written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It revolves around a Las Vegas magician who has turned mafia informant and has decided to rat out one of his mob on whom there is a million-dollar bounty.
Released in 2007 it has an all-star cast which includes Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys and Jeremy Piven. It’s an action-packed film filmed at the Montbleu Resort Casino & Spa called the Nomad Casino.
Main Story
The film sees Buddy Aces Israel ( Jeremy Piven ) hiding out in a Lake Tahoe hotel where he discusses a potential immunity deal with the FBI Deputy Director and other agents.
They learn that the mob boss Sparazza has put a hit out on Israel and the assassin known only as the Swede has been tasked with killing him. Furthermore, he has to take his heart back to Sparazza as proof he has eliminated the informant that could put him away for years.
Messner ( Ryan Reynolds ) is an FBI agent tasked with protecting Israel in turn for his testimony. However, the FBI double-crosses him, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people.
The Ending
Messner is furious over the unnecessary deaths and protests. His boss tells him he is off the case and orders him back to Washington.
Realizing that the FBI will never admit what they did, he walks into the emergency room where Israel and Sparazza are lying injured. He locks the door and pulls the plug on both of them, killing them instantly.
He then lays his gun and badge on the floor, apparently resigning from the FBI.
There is tons of mayhem and adrenalin rushing moments, and these all occur due to Buddy Aces wanting to go to the casino for one last good time, thereby drawing a crowd of assassins.
Once again it portrays the need for that one last gambling rush even if it could cost you everything.