When you’re sitting down for some easy watching, the last thing you want is a film that’s too hard to follow. If you opt to watch a game about gambling, then you may not understand exactly what’s going on. This is an overall trend in this genre, but why does this happen?

They Don’t Explain the Game

It seems like Hollywood writers sometimes expect us all to be casino aficionados, knowing all about the ins and outs of various games. They build up tension and finally, a reveal, but the average viewer has no idea what it all means. Don’t get us wrong, we know something about getting 21 but we don’t really know all the intricacies.

It gets even worse when we’re watching games that have to do with poker, baccarat or craps. These games aren’t really in the consciousness of the average viewer, so we’re pretty much lost with regards to this kind of gameplay.
The movie Mississippi Grind is particularly guilty of this, as the viewer is left in the dark for the majority of the film. The directing and acting is sound, there’s just not a lot of context for what’s happening on the screen. It’s not a top ten movie to say the least.

They Explain the Game too Much

Similarly, some movies just go into way too much depth about the game. This just totally ruins the film experience, as you spend so long learning the rules that it’s not actually a very enjoyable movie in the end. It seems like movie makers just can’t get this balance right, as they either teach us too much or too little.
Exceptions to this rule are movies that stick to basic gambling games, like movies with bingo scene or roulette moments. We understand how these games work, chances are if someone is yelling ‘bingo’ then they’ve managed to be successful.

Are All Gambling Movies Guilty?

There are movies out there with a gambling theme that don’t make us feel like this, usually if they focus on giving other contextual clues then we can just about keep up. In a lot of gangster movies, you’ll find an element of gambling, but since it’s not the main focus then we have other reactions to fall back on.

For those that do want to create a hardcore gambling movie, you’ve got to start thinking about the audience. As cinemagoers, we don’t know everything, nor do we want to spend our relaxation time trying to get our heads around the intricacies of Pai Gow Poker. Movies that delve too much into intricate topics always struggle, with much more directorial and writing flair needed to make that learning experience interesting.
We’re waiting for a gambling movie to prove us wrong however and it would be great to see a director really pull off this subject. This could be an amazing coup for anyone that manages to do it and for viewers, it should offer a cool and unique experience too. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for any such movie in the future.