We’re big fans of gambling movies and in our search for some of the better ones, we’ve
run into some of the worst films we’ve ever seen.
In our top 5 rundown, or bottom 5 I guess you could call it, let’s take a look at
the 5 worst gambling films of all time.
He (Burt Reynolds) was a former card shark who’s been out of the game for years and
who’s life is falling apart due to an impending divorce.
He (Bret Harrison) was a young kid with a lot to prove and even more to learn.
When the former pro sees potential in the young novice, he pays for him to take part
in the poker championships.
But, after a sexy Las Vegas call girl gets thrown into the mix and makes our young novice
question if remaining with the pro is what he wants, can their now broken friendship
be fixed in the last 20 minutes of the movie?
You bet it can.
We just saved you an hour and a half.
Lucky You takes all the cliches you expect to see in a poker film and throws them into
the mix, to create the stew of a really average film.
Eric Bana is a pro poker player who wants to be in the big leagues.
He meets his love interest, Drew Barrymore at a party, who’s a struggling singer, with
a lot of heart and just as much talent.
Finally we meet the father, played by Robert Duvall, who’s condescending to his son and
is also a better poker pro.
The stage is set for a truly weak father vs son story, where, spoiler alert, son beats
father in a tense showdown and Drew Barrymore stands around in the background.
You should definitely try and pick it up at your local BlockBuster as soon as possible.
[sarcasm?]
A young gambling addict tries to fix up his life and pay off his huge gambling debts,
by going to rehab and getting a steady job, so he can solve his problems and move on and
build a life with his girlfriend.
Sorry, that’s what someone who wasn’t a moron would do.
In The Runner, our young gambling addict goes to work for the mob as “a runner”, who
runs around town placing bets on rigged sports events for local gangsters.
He ends up making a bad choice, but strangely not by taking up gambling again.
In fact, when it comes to his gambling addiction, he manages to get over it pretty well considering
the circumstances.
His big mistake is stealing money from his mob boss to buy a ring for his girlfriend
and then putting both their lives in danger.
We’re sure she’d have been happy to wait a couple of months until he’s back on his
feet, but oh well, the contrived movie plot must go on.
A Swell Looking Babe is a 1954 novel from Jim Thompson, that follows the journey of
a young man, working as a bellboy in a hotel.
The novel details his inner struggle as he tries to make sense of his life and his recent
love interest, Marcia Hillis, an older woman who he has become completely obsessed with.
Hit Me is a movie adaptation that struggles to keep up with the novel, as it aims to recreate
the inner thoughts of its characters from the book, by having long expositional voice
overs detailing the character’s inner thoughts.
The problem is that the actors have nothing to do while all this is going on.
Instead of watching some poorly delivered voice over and seeing actors pull faces to
run out the clock, our advice would be: to read the book instead.
Oh yeah and there’s some gambling in it as well.
Still read the book.
All In has been left until last, because it should always come in last place, no matter
the list it’s put in.
All In takes the cliches of the standard poker movie and turns it up to 11, with even the
title being played out.
All In has the young buck origin story, the love interest, the shady doctor, the dead
dad coming back to life and basically every other terrible plot point you can think of.
The film is a mess, it looks ugly, the acting is horrible and every plot line is resolved
as quickly as it’s dropped in.
You may wonder where the poker even comes into play, and the answer is, it doesn’t.
There’s disappointingly little poker in this poker themed film, so it even failed
to deliver there.
All In went All In and was a complete bust.
Wow, so the film’s even got us doing cliches now as well, that’s just how bad it is.
Thanks for watching our list of the worst of the worst gambling movies ever made.
We’re just starting out here, but we’ll have new videos every week, so check in with
us then.
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you around.