Top 7 Las Vegas-Themed Movies Review

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LauraBelle
South Elgin, IL

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Hollywood and Las Vegas, an Interseting Mix

Movie Reviewer, A Big Giant Sap, a storyteller

Pros

Sin City, Mix of Genres

MAY

2008

Sitting in a theater this week watching What Happens In Vegas, as I watched the scenes filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, I started running through my head the numerous other films that have either been based in Las Vegas or had a key scene filmed there.

What Happens In Vegas is kind of in the middle of those two categories. The film has more than a few scenes, but not the whole film. Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher star as two people that go to Las Vegas to forget their sorrows, and end up married after a drunken evening together. As he wins big at the slots the next morning, she argues her entitlement to half of it as his legal wife. They argue this in court, and are sentenced to six hilarious months of hard marriage. This film is somewhat predictable, but nevertheless, very funny.

The list below are the my favorite seven films either based in or with key scenes in Las Vegas:

1. Rain Main Only part of this film is in Las Vegas, but it becomes an overall theme. Dustin Hoffman stars as an autistic man. His successful younger brother, Tom Cruise, discovers his existence after the death of their father. After finding that Hoffman has an uncanny ability to count quickly, he takes him to Las Vegas on a card-counting mission for some cash. While he was using him at first, he of course grows to love and really care for his big brother, and that's the part that really gets to me.

2. Con Air There really isn't much of this film that's in Las Vegas, except for the very ending when the plane eventually lands, if you can call it that. But it's here that Nicolas Cage finally sees his daughter for the first time after reading her letter over and over. "My birthday is July 14th. My daddy is coming home on July 14th." The memorable part of this for me is that my own daughter's birthday is July 14th. Plus, I so love Steve Buscemi in this.

3.Vegas Vacation Aren't all Vacation movies classics? The Griswold family is once again on a family trip, and this time it's to Sin City. Joining them again are Cousin Eddie and his family. Mr. Ne'er-do-well himself, Clark, of course is the one to lose all his money. But the key scene for me is Wayne Newton hitting on Beverly D'Angelo. The other interesting thing is the ever changing Griswold kids. I'm assuming the actors in these rolls keep aging more quickly than the roles they're playing. Not that Chevy Chase and D'Angelo aren't. Just saying.

4. Casino Not only does it share the same stars as Goodfellas in Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, but it also shares the same feel. Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies, despite all the violence, just because of the way it tells the story. Casino is on that same track. Still violently told, but told well. Sharon Stone is fantastic in this as DeNiro's very troubled wife. What I really love about this and Goodfellas is how the lower and lower people sink, they more desperate and untrusting they get with each other.

5. Ocean's Eleven This 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film is entirely shot in Las Vegas. A team of eleven criminals plan the perfect heist, stealing the boxing purses being stored at three different hotels. There's some nice eye candy in this one, not to mention it's amazing to see how they plan this heist to the most minute detail. The further and further they get into it, from moving along the walls to escape the laser security system, to getting jobs at the hotels to get inside when they need to be.

6. Honeymoon In Vegas Where else but Las Vegas do you find a group of Flying Elvis's jumping from a plane together? It's Nicholas Cage yet again as he tries to erase a gambling debt by letting James Can spend the weekend with his fiance Sarah Jessica Parker.

7. Leaving Las Vegas Apparently Nicolas Cage has a thing for Las Vegas, as this is his third movie on the list here. This one, though, is extremely more depressing than the others. Not that the killing going on in Con Air isn't depressing, and not that letting your fiance go on a weekend date with a much older man to erase your gambling debt isn't depressing, but this, this is really depressing. His mission in this film when he gets to Vegas isn't to see his daughter or get married. It's to die. He plans on drinking himself to an early grave. For gosh sakes, even the guy who wrote the story this is based on committed suicide during the filming. Cage won an Oscar for this, and costar Elisabeth Shue was nominated.

Curiously missing from this list is 21, as I was on vacation when it was released. It's a film I am planning on seeing, knowing it will fit in really well with the others.

Last edited on May 16, 2008