The Gambler
The gambler is a 2014 crime drama about a literature professor who is addicted to gambling. It goes through how his high rolling bets land him in trouble and pits him against his worst enemies. The original version of the movie was actually released in 1974, long today todays online bingo casino world came to the fore!
The film is the story of the impasse of a gambling addict. It leaves viewers with valuable lessons and many thought-provoking reflections as it highlights the destructive nature of not knowing when to quit.
More about the Gambler
Jim Bennet (Mark Wahlberg) is a professor of literature who comes from a family that is well off with a stable family life. However, this does not seem to be enough for Jim, and his life takes a turn for the worst as his gambling addiction takes over his whole life.
The more Jim plays, the more he loses, and he finally has to borrow money from loan shark bosses to feed his addiction and to gamble on the red game. His debts keep growing, and it reaches a stage where no one is willing to lend him money, and he has to repay his $260 000 debt within seven days. Unable to do this, the loan sharks go to his mother who gives Jim the money to pay off his debt. Of course, he does not do that, though. His gambling blood takes him to a casino where he loses it all in one night.
With a considerable dilemma on his hands and the repayment date near, Jim plans to flee. However, he is hunted, arrested and beaten by the loan shark. Jim has to repay the debt, and with no way out, he decides to take a risk playing a gamble which pays off.
Conclusion
The film The Gambler details the self-destructive nature of gambling and how reckless players become, hoping for that big win that never.
Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn star in this gambling movie. It’s about a gambling addict that is convinced his newfound friend, Reynolds is a good luck charm and takes him with him on a road trip to a high stakes poker game in New Orleans.
It’s no ordinary road trip as the movie deals with human frailties, desires and behaviours and how they react and adjust in a vivid world.
Keeping the Cards Close
The story drifts southwards from Iowa to New Orleans and embraces the loneliness, debts, regrets, and lousy poker hands of these two unlikely friends who want to believe they are winners. Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) is described by Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) as a “handsome leprechaun”, and initially it would seem he has a likely shot at being a winner. Gerry, on the other hand, is a broke divorced real estate agent who owes money to a loan shark and many other people too. Furthermore, like most gamblers, he believes he’s one lucky break away from turning it all around.
Curtis, a hedonistic gambling drifter, has decent judgement. He knows when to stop gambling and drinking. He has a real affection for Gerry and all he wants is for him to be happy. Gerry, however, is bad news, as he is destructive, passively aggressive, manipulative and unable to control his impulses. It’s the combination of opposites on a quest to fix the unfixable using gambling as the remedy.
Conclusion
Mississippi Grind is about a man who not only gambles with his money but with what’s left of his already ruined life. Moreover, risking everything he has for the sake of a long-shot fantasy that never comes and redeems him in the eyes of those who have written him off. It’s a tale of many gamblers who keep hoping for that big win that never comes.
Fear and Loathing is a cult film about a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream and is a dark comedy. The movie’s storyline is about two hippies, a peculiar journalist and a psychopathic lawyer that go on a psychedelic journey to Vegas.
Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Torro play the main characters in Fear and Loathing. It details the duo’s journey through Las Vegas as their initial journalistic intentions decentralize into an exploration of the city under the influence of psychoactive drugs.
The Plot
Duke (Johnny Depp) has been assigned by a magazine to travel to Vegas and cover the Mint 400 cycle race. The duo has, however also decided to take advantage of the assignment and purchase a large variety of drugs which sets them on a downward spiral. Chaos and mayhem reign supreme. Their drug-induced states see them destroying hotel rooms, leaving casinos due to hallucinations and finally Dr Gonzo ditching Duke in Vegas and leaving him with an expensive bill for the hotel room.
Duke tracks Dr Gonzo down and finds out he has a suite at the Flamingo Las Vegas so Duke checks into the suite so he can cover the District Attorneys convention on narcotics, somewhat ironic! The pair attend the conference and snort cocaine during the guest speakers speech on marijuana addicts. They eventually leave the conference and continue their binge for an unspecified number of days where they finally part ways and Duke finishes his article.
Conclusion
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a narrative of drug-induced delusions of a reporter while on assignment in Las Vegas. Initially, it was supposed to be a journey with a journalistic purpose but instead turns into the exploration of Vegas and Casinos under the umbrella of illegal substances.
Rounders is a movie that stars Matt Damon as a genuinely gifted Poker player and New Attorney. It’s about compulsive gambling and how the hero gambles away his tuition money, his law degree, his girlfriend and almost his life. Yet amidst all of this, he seems to be a happy gambler.
As a Poker movie, it is entertaining and knowledgeable and takes place within the pro poker underground of New York and Atlantic City. The ensemble of players are known to one another, and Mike McDermott (Damon) ventures into this world of cutthroats where he meets the poker genius of the Russian American mob who tries to reform McDermott. However, he lands up taking him down a destructive path of compulsive gambling which the movie depicts in a humorous light.
About Rounders
Rounders is all about the places McDermott & Worm visit and the dangerous people they encounter while trying to win a lot of money. The movie buys into the seedy glamour of Poker, almost romanticizing a game that consists of exhausted players who risk everything they own to enjoy those sudden bursts of adrenalin.
The best scenes in Rounders is where they contrast the personalities of Mike and Worm. Mike wants to win by playing a good game of Poker, whereas Worm wants to hustle. He is, however, a card mechanic who takes outrageous chances and his intoxicating personality leads them both into trouble. The one defining moment is when they find themselves in a high stakes game with many State Troopers in the room.
Conclusion
John Dahl directed Rounders. It’s mostly a movie based on a Sport which in this case is Poker and depicts the talented hero winning and facing disaster time and time again. However, he gets back up and continues playing until he has nothing left to lose.
