Best Poker Movie?

morgant · #1 11-12-2003, 04:06 PM

What are the best poker movies out there? first fiction then maybe even some non-fictional learning stuff.

I saw a top ten list web site and it said some movie with Kirsten Dunst was the best one so i bought it on blind faith what a waste of a few bucks.

morgant · #2 11-12-2003, 05:31 PM

maybe this will get some people going with some alternatives?

Zele · #3 11-12-2003, 05:37 PM

It's the best one I've seen. Certainly better than The Cincinnati Kid and Maverick. I hope Stuey comes to my town, but then again I hear it's not that great either.

rkiray · #4 11-12-2003, 05:55 PM

What poker movie was Kirsten Dunst in?

TheRake · #5 11-12-2003, 06:24 PM

I have only seen Rounders and Maverick.. So guess I'll vote Rounders [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Side note: They should make "Positively 5th Street" into a movie...That would be a great movie IMO

TheRake

morgant · #6 11-12-2003, 06:36 PM

its called Luckytown, i couldnt even get to the gambling scenes it was so terrible. i found it on pokertop10.com

number 4
Luckytown (2000)
Kirsten Dunst is on a quest to find her father who is a notorious gambler. She picks up a video store clerk with a dream of being 'the' poker player and heads off to Las Vegas to find happiness, her father, or ruin. Lots of good action, great gambling scenes, Kirsten looks particularly sweet and she pole dances. Can you think of a better one? ;P

Depraved · #7 11-12-2003, 06:53 PM

Wake up CALL · #8 11-12-2003, 11:34 PM

If there had only been 9 other movies in history made with a poker theme Rounders would rate a poor 10th!

A Big Hand for the Little Lady is by far the best.

Oski · #9 11-13-2003, 02:11 AM

Easy Money with Rodney Dangerfield and Joe Pesci. The whole goal of the movie turns out to be getting away from the family to have pizza, beer, and poker with your pals. It is a very happy ending and teaches the meaning of life.

I.Rowboat · #10 11-13-2003, 03:15 AM

Does it have to be a whole movie? I think the poker scenes from House of Games and The Sting are the most authentic/interesting/compelling moments about poker I've seen on film, even if they have more to do with cheating than straight poker. Good stuff.

IMHO, the best poker movie hasn't been made yet. The Hustler is probably the best movie about gambling ever, but it touches on poker only tangentially -- Bert, George C. Scott's money man character, is a poker player, but we only see him playing cards in one scene. But The Hustler has heart -- more heart than any other movie about gambling that I'm aware of. It rings true, even 40+ years after it was made.

For all its supposed earnestness, Rounders is not in the same league (again, IMO). To me, Rounders is a lot closer to The Color of Money -- entertaining at times but also embarassing at times, and the uneveness is hard to overlook. Example: Does Mike really believe that by bluffing Johnny Chan for one freaking hand that he has the stuff to hang with the best? Are we to believe that he believes it, and will stake his future on that tenuous assessment? That moment is passed off in the film as if it is Mike's true personal epiphany, but it sure rang hollow to me.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. The ultimate poker movie is still out there, waiting to be made. Given the popularity of poker at the moment in Hollywood, maybe we'll see another take on it in a few years.