We all love movies, they usually offer us an insight into a world we can only dream about or give us the opportunity to live vicariously through the characters onscreen. One world Hollywood seems infatuated with is gambling.
There is an almost endless string of movies revolving around the seedy underbelly often associated with gambling. In some movies, blackjack itself can be a character, whether it be an evil destructive force or a life changing saviour. We’re going to look at the top five movies focusing on the ever classic game of 21.
5. The Hangover
This is a story I think everyone can relate to. I mean who hasn’t had their drink spiked by their half retarded friend and woken up a day later with no memory of the night before, a lion in their suite, stolen a police car, toothless and missing one of their best friends? That’s just an average Tuesday night for me.
But when the chips are down and Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) think their friend Doug (Justin Bartha) is being held hostage by a demented Asian gangster called Chow (Ken Jeong) it is up to Alan to attempt card counting at the blackjack tables in an effort to raise the $80,000 ransom money.
A furious session of blackjack follows. Alan explains earlier in the film he had read several books about card counting and that it didn’t seem too hard. Turns out it isn’t too hard at all for Alan, who ends up making the money in no time flat and saves the day.
4. 21
This 2008 film is very, very loosely based on the antics of the MIT Blackjack team and is based on the book “Bringing down the house” by Ben Mezrich.
This follows the story of a gang of MIT students, mentored by an MIT professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey). Rosa teaches his gang how to count cards and using team tactics while playing Blackjack.
This is a very in-depth look at how card counting works and how it can be applied to a dual team situation. The MIT team was broken into two groups: spotters and big players. The spotters would sit a table, playing the minimum bet while counting the deck. They would then signal the big player to come to their table when the count is favorable to be taken advantage of.
The movie follows the team’s brief success and inevitable downfall.
3. Croupier
Clive Owen plays Jack, a detached dealer who revels in seeing the punter lose. This is an amazingly accurate look at life on the other side of the table, showing a lot of casino rules and regulations and the skills required to be a successful dealer/croupier.
Of course, the film doesn’t focus solely on blackjack, but there is enough 21 action to satiate any taste.
2. The Gambler
This is an intense movie which truly depicts the possible downside of gambling and almost shows Blackjack as a villain.
This 2014 film starring Mark Wahlberg is actually a remake of a 1974 film of the same name. The Gambler follows Jim Bennett (Wahlberg) through seedy underground casinos as he plays his two poison’s of choice: Blackjack and Roulette.
Bennett seems to do well at Blackjack but always over extends himself going all or nothing on the spin of a roulette wheel. Ending up owing two loan sharks, Bennett begins to scramble to get the funds to pay his debts, eventually convincing his Mum to give him the money. But Bennett winds up blowing this on a trip to Vegas with a young girl from a class he teaches.
The film reaches a dramatic climax when Bennett enlists more of his students into a point shaving and betting scam, pays off one debt and then risks it all on the spin of a roulette wheel to pay off the rest of his debts.
The moral of the story: just play blackjack – don’t bet everything on one spin of roulette.
1. Rain Man
This is the original card counting movie. Charlie (Tom Cruise) discovers he has an autistic brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) after their father dies. The bulk of their father’s estate – $3 million – was left to the mental facility where Raymond has been residing.
In an effort to swindle the money away from the mental facility, Charlie essentially kidnaps Raymond and takes him on a road trip. Some touching moments arise and it’s all sunshine and lollipops. That is until Charlie discovers he is $80,000 in debt.
Charlie decides to exploit Raymond’s unique ability for total recall and almost instant math calculations by taking him to Las Vegas to count cards. There, Raymond uses his ability to win enough money to cover Charlie’s debts even though the pair are eventually asked to leave the casino under suspicion of card counting.