Rounders
Rounders is most likely the most popular poker movie today, Matt Damon stars as a reluctant law student who can’t put aside his subterranean career of playing casino poker and blackjack for big money. After he loses his post-grad nest egg to a weird Russian kingpin (John Malkovich)–and also loses his disgusted girlfriend (Gretchen Mol) in the process–Damon’s character turns to an unreliable old buddy (Edward Norton) for a dangerous game of sharking wherever there happens to be a game underway: frat boys, cops, bad dudes, you name it.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Four regular guys from London put all their cash together to back their friend in an insanely high stakes game of poker with a local gangster. When they lose they have to get deep into the world of crime in order to get out again. Written and directed by talented newcomer Guy Ritchie, this is one of those movies that was destined to become an instant cult classic a la Reservoir Dogs. Although some comparisons were drawn between Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, it would be unfair to discount the brilliant wit of the story and the innovative camerawork that the director brings to his debut feature.
The Cincinnati Kid
The Cincinnati Kid is all about the poker scene at the end, which is one of the best on film for certain. However, you must sit through some reasonably flat performances revolving around revenge and romance to get there. Steve McQueen brings his cool fire to the role of the Cincinnati Kid, a small-timer eager to take his chances in high-stakes poker.
Maverick
Set in the old South, Mel Gibson stars as card-playing gunslinger Brett Maverick, who meets up with wily gambler Annabelle Bransford (Jodie Foster) and a marshal named Zane Cooper (James Garner, trading his old role to Gibson) on his way to the World Series of Poker in St. Louis. Maverick’s trying to raise the $5,000 needed to join the high-stakes poker tournament, but that’s easier said than done due to a lot of unscrupulous competition and a twisting plot of tricks and deceptions.
Luckytown
Kirsten Dunst is Linda who is on a quest to find her father who is a notorious gambler. When she turns 18, unhappy Lidda Daniels leaves Southern California to look for Charlie, her father, a professional gambler who abandoned her years before. She picks up a video store clerk with a dream of making it big playing poker games and heads off to Las Vegas to find happiness, her father, or ruin.
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