Top 5 British gambling movies

No country does gambling films like the United States.

You can easily understand the USA’s dominance in the casinothemed movie category when you remember the 1973 movie named ‘The Sting,’ which was shot in Chicago.

There is also the Las Vegas-based movie of 1995, named Casino. But there are some gambling movies that have been handled by British directors, and many that were shot in the UK. If you feel inspired to play, Nektan casinos are a great online source.

Below are the 5 best gambling themed movies shot in the UK.

 

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

This gambling flick is full of humour, and it’s always evergreen in people’s memory, as it was the movie that made Jason Statham a star on the international scene. Some other actors also had their careers revamped by the movie. It is about a set of exciting and entertaining events that were triggered by a calamitous card game in London. The events culminated in a set of friends getting involved in some dangerous situations, involving two antique guns, a stash of money, and some batches of weed. Through this movie, the director, Guy Ritchie gained the popularity that earned him some other top notch directorial jobs.

 

Revolver

The man that directed Lock, Stock also did this one, and he also brought in Jason Statham to help him translate it. Here, Statham who was named Jake Green, was incarcerated for an offence he never committed, and as a big gambler, he sets out to avenge the punishment. He got into a dramatic casino game against his nemesis Dorothy Macha, and the result was very unusual. Critics across the globe did not like the movie, but it succeeded in gaining a cult following. Brian Orndorf even referred to it as Donnie Darko, by stating that the movie “is the perfect movie for those who like to crack things open and dig around the innards.”

 

Croupier

This murky British casino movie was directed by Mike Hodges, and because of the huge internal monologues, similar to what was common in the early British and American detective movies, this is nicknamed ‘neo noir’ by many. This movie was on its way to landing Hodges some accolades at the Academy Awards before it was disqualified because it has been shown on Dutch TV. Clive Owen played the character of Jack Manfred, who was an upcoming author that started working as a croupier to sustain himself. That culminated into a series of gambling activities that will wow you.

 

Casino Royale

This is a reboot of the Bond franchise, where Daniel Craig acted as the British superspy, and here, he plays a high stakes poker game against a notorious arms dealer. He did the unthinkable, and that is to persuade superiors to reluctantly pay the $10 million buy-in money for the game. He makes gaming very enticing and alluring in the movie. It is a movie that attracts people to spend some time at the poker, roulette, and slot tables.

 

Snatch

This is yet another follow up to Lock, Stock, as it is also directed by Guy Ritchie. Here, the game is full of a lot of promoters of bent boxing, Russian gangsters, pikeys, and dangerous sports bookies. All of them are here on one mission, and that is to fish out the priceless stolen diamond.  But we can also say that Brad Pitt’s humorous Irish accent is also priceless. This is one of the best parts of the movie, one which has a fast talking script punctuated by memorable one-liners.