Nosebleeds to underground games—have all depicted the glamour, grit, and decadence of the casino industry.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Owning Mahowny (2003), The Cooler (2003), The Hangover (2009), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and Uncut Gems (2019) are among the films that offer the most authentic, hilarious, or entertaining depictions of the gambling industry.
Note: Don’t be upset if you don’t see classic poker films like Mississippi Grind or Rounders on this list because they were deliberately left out.
Even though Vegas Vacation is not nearly as good as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, it is still a fun story about trying to have a good time in Sin City with the family.
When Clark Griswold, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), Audrey (Marisol Nichols), and Russ (Ethan Embry) leave Chicago, they discover that Vegas isn’t always kind to naive tourists. That is, until Russ wins four sports cars by pulling a few lucky numbers from a slot machine. Chevy Chase gives another excellent performance as Clark Griswold.
Wallace Shawn’s performance as the antagonistic dealer Marty, who tortures Clark throughout the vacation, and a cameo appearance by lounge singer Wayne Newton, who falls in love with Ellen, are the greatest additions to Vegas Vacation.
IMDb gives the movie a score of 5.9 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 55% audience rating. The film received a Tomatometer score of just 16% from less favorable critics.
Is Las Vegas Vacation attainable
Even though Vegas Vacation is clearly meant to be a parody and exaggeration, there are a lot of things about the tourist experience in Vegas that are right, like how a random slot pull can lead to a big win and how some dealers always seem to find a way to win against you.
How do I get my hands on Vegas Vacation? Vegas Vacation is available for purchase on a number of streaming services, including YouTube, AppleTV, and Vudu, as well as for streaming on HBO.
Netflix has Vegas Vacation? No, Vegas Vacation is not available on Netflix right now. Does Vegas Vacation have access to Prime? Yes, Vegas Vacation is available for $3.99 on Amazon Prime Video.
Is Vegas Vacation available on Disney+?
Vegas Vacation is not available on Disney+ because it was produced by Warner Bros. One of the best depictions of the game of blackjack ever seen on film, Vegas Vacation (1997) 21 (2008) 21, written by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb and directed by Robert Luketic, makes it one of the best casino movies ever made.
The gambling drama stars Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell, a financially disadvantaged MIT student who stumbles into the world of card counting and becomes a key player of the blackjack team of professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), based on the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team in the 1990s.
Campbell is caught in a long-running game of cat and mouse between Rosa and gaming enforcer Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), after using a blackjack strategy to win hundreds of thousands at the Las Vegas tables.
In this film, Kate Bosworth plays teammate Jill Taylor and Josh Gad plays one of Sturgess’ friends outside of the blackjack team. Both of these roles are excellent.
Even though Kevin Spacey’s subsequent sexual misconduct scandal makes it a little difficult to watch, this movie should be seen by anyone who has ever dreamed of joining a covert blackjack team and taking over a casino for millions of dollars.
21 has a score of 6.8 on IMDb, a 66% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a Tomatometer score of just 33%.
Is 21 attainable
21 and bringing down the House are based on actual events that took place in the 1990s and involved the MIT Blackjack Team, though both the movie and the book contain significant embellishments and fictitious elements.
The fact that Spacey’s character was based on John Chang and that Sturgess’ character was based on MIT Blackjack Team member Jeff Ma led some to accuse the movie of “whitewashing” by casting White Americans to play the real-life Asian Americans.
How do I access 21? 21 is available for purchase on streaming services like YouTube, Vudu, and Apple TV as well as for streaming on Netflix.
Do you watch Netflix? Yes, you can watch 21 on Netflix right now. Is 21 a Prime member? Yes, 21 is available for $2.79 through Amazon Prime.
Is 21 on Disney+? No, 21 was made by Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures, so it probably won’t be on Disney+.