There is something essentially classic about a casino scene in a movie. Whether it is part of thrilling spy story or an entire story built around the gaming universe, casino games like poker, Megaways slots, and blackjack are all part of pop culture.
The casino is not only a backdrop in these movies. They are a part of the story, pushing the narrative and building the atmosphere to create the classic scenes that we love so much.
A list of all the casino movies that have been released would take a huge amount of time to go through – but here are just a handful that everyone should see at least once.
Casablanca
Released back in 1942, this is a classic movie that is often quoted, and placed at the top of lists for all sorts of reasons.
Set against a backdrop of Nazi obsession, the movie’s plot hinges around Rick (Humphrey Bogart) deciding whether he should help the love of his life Ilsa Ingrid Bergman) and her husband escape from Morocco. Rick is known as the person to see for illicit papers, and that is where the casino scene comes in.
A Bulgarian couple need to make some money to secure safe passage. Without it, the young wife would have been expected to exchange sexual favours for passage – not something that Rick could stomach. They are playing roulette, and Rick arranges it so that when the husband puts his money on 22, his tampering would make the number come up repeatedly.
The sweeping story of self-sacrifice makes Casablanca one of the most romantic movies ever made, and the roulette scene is just part of the magic.
21
Based on a true story, 21 tells the tale of a group of MIT students who descended on Las Vegas casinos to play Blackjack, using their skills in counting cards to make enormous sums of money.
The movie itself has been exaggerated, building a story on top of what is already an interesting situation – how do the casinos protect themselves from these card sharks who are out to win?
Kevin Spacey stars alongside Jim Sturgess, who plays the main character looking for a way to fund his college tuition. The card counting montage in this movie is an important part of the plot demonstrating the entire premise of the movie including the thoughts of Ben – and is possibly one of the best scenes in the movie.
Casino
How do you choose just one scene from an iconic movie that is considered to be one of Martin Scorsese’s best?
Casino is a film that takes the seedy underbelly of the Las Vegas entertainment scene in the 1970’s and brings the dodgy dealings to the forefront. Robert De Niro plays the gangster in charge of a casino, having to deal with investigations by the authorities, rival gangsters, and the actions of his estranged wife.
It’s dark, funny, and an all-round epic that doesn’t paint the world of the casino as glitzy and glamorous.
Rainman
While this movie is not directly about the casino, one of the most important parts of the film takes place inside a casino playing blackjack.
Released in 1988, Rainman follows the story of Charlie, a dodgy wheeler-dealer who finds out that when his estranged father died, he left his fortune to Raymond – an autistic savant brother that he didn’t remember. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman play their parts so well that this movie still holds up today.
The casino scene involves a confused Raymond demonstrating his mathematical ability in counting cards to help Charlie make the money he needs.
Ocean’s Eleven
Both iterations of this movie are iconic – the earlier one starred the Rat Pack, with Fred Astaire at his debonair best.
Most people will focus on the latest film, however.
In it, Danny Ocean recruits some of his old crew to help him with an impossible heist of three Las Vegas casinos. It’s tough to pick the best casino scene in this film, but a lot of people enjoy the scene where Rusty is teaching aspiring actors to play poker as both a tongue-in-cheek and strangely realistic.
The Hangover
While it is billed as a comedy romp, The Hangover had surprising success with both critics and viewers – leading to more than one sequel.
There are a few scenes in The Bellagio – the casino that the group of friends are at for a bachelor party – but one of the best is the scene that pays homage to one of the other movies on this list. The friends need to make some money, so Alan decides that he can learn how to count cards and displays some of the same card counting abilities that Raymond has in Rainman.
Of course, it is funny all the way through, and everyone will have their favourite scene from this movie.
