Spoiler Alert! Cinema Wellman ‘Ruins’ the Bets Pictures
Hello and welcome back to Cinema Wellman! Today we’re going to do a quick “Spoiler Alert!” blog (2nd in the series) ‘ruining’ all of those gambling movies I highlighted last week in the “Bets Pictures” article. I figured no better time than the present.
I also didn’t want to just straight up tell you what happens in these movies, so I’m going to switch things up a bit. I’m going to turn today’s “Spoiler Alert” into a quiz!
A quiz that you can, you know, bet on!
One of the things I miss most about being a teacher is making up quizzes. My students always enjoyed them since they never knew what to expect and their names frequently appeared in the questions and choices. So today, you get a quiz.
For each movie spoiled in this fashion, I will provide you with three possible endings/outcomes/resolutions/etc. It’s up to you to pick the correct answer.
Since I just spoke about these films in detail last week, I won’t do any recap or anything. I’ll head right to the spoilers. If you missed last week’s “Bets Pictures” blog I’m not quite sure why you’re here, but welcome nonetheless!
Place those bets, and let’s begin!
Rounders (1998)
Mike (Matt Damon) loses to Teddy KGB and is now banned from Teddy’s game for life. To no one’s surprise, Worm (Edward Norton) goes back to prison.
Mike beats Teddy KGB who is infuriated by this and has his henchmen beat Mike up and leave him in an alley.
Mike beats Teddy KGB in the big game. Mike then tries to reconcile with his girlfriend, but everyone still loses.
ANSWER: C. - We have a winner! Kind of. Not sure if this is happy or not, but since we had nobody to root for anyway, it’s fine. “Giff that maien heis mahney!”
California Split (1974)
No quiz for the next two movies, just spoilers. Bill (George Segal) wins a ton of money, but he really doesn’t feel anything. He doesn’t have that “special feeling” that he’s been chasing, so he walks away from the gambling life. Bill is apparently one of the lucky ones.
Croupier (1999)
Jack (Clive Owen) is planning to take part in the casino robbery, but his girlfriend foils that plan by withholding important information from him. The robbery fails, and Jack’s girlfriend is later killed in a hit-and-run.
Jack does publish his book, and it’s a big success. Unfortunately, this success doesn’t bring Jack happiness. He changes nothing about his life. He continues to work as a croupier and doesn’t even move out of his little flat. Nothing in life gives Jack any satisfaction.
Molly’s Game (2017)
When we left Molly, she was in a heap of trouble! Let’s see how she did.
Molly is caught and goes on trial. She pleads guilty, but the judge is lenient on her. She is put on probation, sentenced to 200 hours of community service, fined $200,000, and is subjected to periodic drug testing.
Molly is caught and goes to trial. She pleads not guilty, is found guilty and is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Molly is caught, but the F.B.I. doesn’t have enough evidence to bring the case to trial. Molly skates and continues to run her games illegally to this day.
ANSWER: A. - I was surprised at this ending when I first saw this movie. I thought that they’d want to punish her severely and make an example out of her. But I guess rich people tend to escape punishment better than the rest of us.
Bob le Flambeur (1940)
The casino robbery is a success. Bob and his gang get away with beaucoup bucks!
On the day of the robbery, Bob gets distracted by gambling at the casino and misses the meetup with his gang. They are intercepted by the police, and his friend is shot and killed. Bob will be going to prison. “Lady Luck, his mistress, made him forget…”
Bob and his gang attempt to rob the casino, but it’s a total disaster. Several of the gang are killed, including Bob.
ANSWER: B. - Poor Bob! Everything is set to go on the big day, and he starts gambling. To make things worse, he’s winning! This makes him stay and miss the deadline causing all of the misfortune that follows. The “High Roller” finally stopped rolling.
The Cooler (2003)
Bernie (William H. Macy) barely escapes with his life at the end. He wants to escape his dismal existence, but Shelly (Alec Baldwin) wants him to stay. Bernie’s deadbeat son is severely beaten by Shelly for cheating at the casino, and Bernie and Natalie get away at the end with pretty much nothing.
The Hustler (1961)
Eddie (Paul Newman) goes to Fats (Jackie Gleason) with his last $3,000 and asks for one game. Fats obliges and beats Eddie like he did before, leaving Eddie with nothing.
Eddie plays Fats again and beats Fats. Eddie is now the “King” of the pool hall and is expected to take on all challengers.
Eddie plays Fats again and Fats quits. Eddie is the champ, but Bert (George C. Scott) still “owns” him. Eddie refuses to work with Bert and says they’ll have to kill him this time. Bert lets Eddie off the hook, but Eddie can never step foot in a big time pool hall again.
ANSWER: C. - Eddie does bring his last $3K to the pool hall, he does find Fats, he does challenge him to one game. He suggests Fats beats him quickly to get it over with and end his misery. Eddie ends up playing magnificently, causing Fats to give up. “I can’t beat you, kid.” Eddie’s elation doesn’t last long as Bert steps in. Eddie won the match but ends up a loser.
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
The Kid (Steve McQueen) plays Lancey Howard (Edward G. Robinson) in a marathon poker game and wins the last hand. The Kid is now the recognized champion of the poker table in all of New Orleans.
Lancey Howard beats the Kid in an all-in game. The Kid has nothing now. He’s lost it all. He even loses pitching pennies with the kid in the alley that we’ve seen him beat previously.
The Kid is losing to Lancey and becoming desperate. He decides to cheat, but is caught. The game is forfeited, and the Kid’s reputation is ruined. He’ll never play again.
ANSWER: B. - This devastated me when I first saw it as a kid. I couldn’t believe a movie could end like this! How could the Kid lose it all?!?! He was a decent guy. We were rooting for him. How could he be the loser at the end? Was it because he took Ann-Margret to that cockfight?
Uncut Gems (2003)
I would like to mention that the directors of this film attended my alma mater, Boston University. This is, by far, the best movie I’ve ever seen made by anyone who went to BU. (There’s a middle finger in there for someone. Larry knows who it is.)
Howard (Adam Sandler) wins the bet. He now has enough money to pay back the scary Russians he owes. Howard is lucky to get out of this alive and vows to quit gambling. The last shot, however, shows Howard calling in another bet.
Howard loses the bet. He also loses his family, his house, his jewelry store, and everything else he has of value. Howard has nothing left to lose (or bet with).
Howard wins the bet. He’s now up $1.2 million and can pay everyone back. When he opens the security door and lets the Russians back into his shop, one of the thugs shoots him in the face and kills him.
ANSWER: C. - Yep. That’s how this frantic, chaotic, frenzied film ends. I saw Uncut Gems in the theater, and when this happened, I was totally shocked. The way it’s shot is brilliant as there’s really no leadup to it at all. Howard lets the guys back into the shop, he’s all pumped up that he won, these guys get their money, and BANG! Howard is dead. That’s how quickly things can turn when you’re in so deep.
The Sting (1973)
I’m pretty sure that everyone has seen this Best Picture Winner at some point. If you haven’t, you need to! So, no quiz needed here.
Henry (Paul Newman) and Johnny (Robert Redford) pull off the big con in a stylish way and take Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) for everything he has. There’s a nice twist at the end where you think they shoot each other, but I didn’t even fall for that con the first time I saw this as an 11-year-old. No way you kill Newman and Redford!
Not in this movie, at least…
Well, that’s a wrap for our second “Spoiler Alert” blog! How’d you do with those six questions? I set the over/under at three and took the over. More “Spoiler Alerts” to come once we have more movies to spoil for you!
Join us next week for the Best & Worst of our May screenings here at Cinema Wellman.
Until then…take care.
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