Molly’s Game (2017)
This crime drama was based on a 2014 memoir by Molly Bloom, an American entrepreneur and motivational speaker. Bloom became the subject of an FBI investigation in April 2013 after the illegal poker empire she ran for the rich and famous was exposed. She was sentenced to community service and probation, among other things.
Molly’s Game is the closest thing this genre has to an instructional video. As Bloom (played by Oscar winner Jessica Chastain) discovers the game, the viewer can also learn about it with her. Aside from Chastain’s performance, the movie’s accuracy regarding poker is one of its strongest points.
In the movie, a mysterious man named Player X becomes an important part of Bloom’s game. His true identity was never revealed, not even in Bloom’s memoir. (She kept the names of her many regulars a guarded secret.) But a 2011 lawsuit finally pointed to Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire as the player in question, whose actions in the movie were reportedly quite close to what Maguire did to Bloom in real life.
Maverick (1994)
This action-comedy starred James Garner, Jodie Foster, and Mel Gibson. Gibson played the titular character Bret Maverick, who needs an extra $3000 to enter a high-stakes, winner-takes-all poker tournament. He teams up with Annabelle Bransford (Foster), and together they go through a series of amusing yet dangerous situations to earn money through gambling.
An extra who worked on this movie with Gibson and Foster revealed that the former had to use an apple box when he filmed with the latter. “We were a small group for the exterior boat scenes and spent twelve hours on a sternwheeler with the stars. Mel Gibson is short and had to stand on boxes to look taller than Jodie Foster.”
Luckily, their height difference didn’t hinder their chemistry or the movie’s success. It made $183 million off a $75 million budget. ‘Maverick’ is heavy on action and comedy but rather light on poker. However, it’s still considered one of the greatest poker movies because it struck the right balance between featuring the game and focusing on other elements. Even if you’re not big on poker, you’ll still find this an enjoyable watch.