Two gambling-related movies

Yesterday and today I was a bum, stayed home and watched movies.

First up was "Owning Mahowny" (2003; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owning_Mahowny and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285861/). It has no poker in it, but just about every other form of gambling. It's based on Brian Molony, who embezzled from the bank he worked at in order to feed a gambling addiction. It's depressing throughout, as we watch him spiral down, but well-made and compelling nevertheless.

Next was "California Split" (1974; see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071269/fullcredits). This is one of those movies that's just generally worth seeing, even if you're not much into poker. There are only two poker scenes, so calling it a poker movie is a stretch. Again, it's much more about gambling addiction than any particular game. It was directed by Robert Altman, and like most of his films, there isn't so much of a well-defined plot as the sense that we sort of fade into the characters' lives at one arbitrary point and fade out of them again at a later arbitrary point.



The stars are Elliott Gould (above) and George Segal, looking, oh, about 24 years younger than they do now. But if you want startlingly young, take a gander at the small role of Jeff Goldblum, in what was then only his second movie.



And who could that be sauntering in to join the Reno poker game in the movie's final scenes? Might it be Amarillo Slim Preston? Why yes, I think it might! (If you don't know who Amarillo Slim is, shame on you, and start learning about the man here: http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2008/01/maybe-hes-never-heard-of-babe-ruth.html.)

Both of these are decent, though not great films, easily worth the viewing time.