Highest-Rated Movies about 'Playing Poker'

The Big Heat (1953), The Hustler (1961), My Darling Clementine (1946), The Killers (1946), Training Day (2001), Hell or High Water (2016), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Molly's Game (2017) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Playing Poker movies.

#1. The Big Heat (1953)

Storyline: Dave Bannion is an upright cop on the trail of a vicious gang he suspects holds power over the police force. Bannion is tipped off after a colleague's suicide and his fellow officers' suspicious silence lead him to believe that they are on the gangsters' payroll. When a bomb meant for him kills his wife instead, Bannion becomes a furious force of vengeance and justice, aided along the way by the gangster's spurned girlfriend Debby. As Bannion and Debby fall further and further into the Gangland's insidious and brutal trap, they must use any means necessary (including murder) to get to the truth.

Plot Keywords: murder, blackmail, car bomb, organized crime, police corruption, police detective, political corruption ...

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#2. The Hustler (1961)

Storyline: "Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Will he decide that this is too steep a price to pay in time to save himself?

Plot Keywords: playing pool, based on novel, billiards, gambling, bar, pool hall, arrogance ...

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#3. My Darling Clementine (1946)

Storyline: Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.

Plot Keywords: arizona territory, arizona, pistol whip, playing trumpet, cigar smoking, church service, coughing ...

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#4. The Killers (1946)

Storyline: Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins.

Plot Keywords: hitman, cell mate, childhood friend, diner, jewel thief, maid, morgue ...

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#5. Training Day (2001)

Storyline: In Los Angeles, a city where streets are overrun by drug dealers, those who have sworn to uphold the law are breaking them to clean up the streets. Denzel Washington plays L.A.P.D. detective Alonzo Harris, a veteran narcotics officer whose methods of enforcing the law are questionable, if not corrupt. 'Training Day' follows Harris as he trains rookie Jake Hoyt over a 24-hour period. Ethical dilemmas arise for Hoyt as well as the audience as questions present themselves as to whether or not Harris' methodology for ridding the streets of South Central Los Angeles of drugs is right or wrong.

Plot Keywords: die hard scenario, wedding ring, threatened with a knife, shot in the butt, mentor protege relationship, n word, police corruption ...

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#6. Hell or High Water (2016)

Storyline: In Texas, after the death of his mother, the unemployed oil and gas worker Toby Howard is losing his ranch to the Texas Midlands Bank. Toby is divorced from his wife who lives with their two sons. When his brother Tanner Howard is released from the prison, they team up to rob agencies of the Texas Midlands Bank to raise money to pay the loan so that Toby may leave the real estate to his sons. Meanwhile the Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton who is near retirement and his Native American-descendant partner Alberto Parker try to anticipate the next move of the thieves.

Plot Keywords: bank robber, brother brother relationship, armed robbery, bank robbery, casino, native american, texas ranger ...

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#7. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Storyline: A prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) set in 1935, the year before, the professor, archaeologist and adventurer by the name of Indiana Jones is back in action in his latest adventure. This time he teams up with a nightclub singer named Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott and a twelve-year-old Chinese boy named Short Round. They end up in a small distressed village in India, where the people believe that evil spirits have taken all their children away after a sacred precious stone was stolen. They also discover the great mysterious terror surrounding a booby-trapped temple known as the Temple of Doom. Thuggee is beginning to attempt to rise once more, believing that with the power of all five Sankara stones they can rule the world. It's all up to Indiana to put an end to the Thuggee campaign, rescue the lost children, win the girl and conquer the Temple of Doom.

Plot Keywords: india, studio logo segues into film, hand through chest, shanghai china, prequel, 1930s, cult film ...

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#8. Molly's Game (2017)

Storyline: Molly Bloom, a beautiful young Olympic-class skier, ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.

Plot Keywords: poker, lawyer, playing cards, pantyhose, woman wears a short skirt, girl wears a miniskirt, thin woman ...

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#9. Limitless (2011)

Storyline: An action-thriller about a writer who takes an experimental drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his mind. As one man evolves into the perfect version of himself, forces more corrupt than he can imagine mark him for assassination. Out-of-work writer Eddie Morra's (Cooper) rejection by girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) confirms his belief that he has zero future. That all vanishes the day an old friend introduces Eddie to NZT, a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive. Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions. But brutal side effects jeopardize his meteoric ascent. With a dwindling stash and hit men who will eliminate him to get the NZT, Eddie must stay wired long ...

Plot Keywords: drug, experimental drug, intelligence, fistfight, rags to riches, drinking blood, rise to power ...

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#10. Manderlay (2005)

Storyline: After gangster Mulligan's (Willem Dafoe's) cars colony, fleeing northern justice, finds a hiding place in Alabama, spoiled, naive daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) refuses to travel on after seeing the Manderlay cotton plantation being run under slavery rules, called Mam's (Lauren Bacall's) law, including flogging. She keeps half of dad's goons as guard to force the dying matriarch-owner's heirs, which she shamelessly dispossesses and reduces to "staff", to taste destitution under absurd, gun-imposed contracts. The "slaves" are made free partners, supposed to vote for progress after lessons from Grace. But almost all of her democracy-pupils prove to be fickle, dumb, and selfish, except old Wilhelm (Danny Glover). Her and their ignorance in Southern planting and crafty Dixie ways means more problems are created then solved. By the time dad returns to pick her up or abandon her for good, she's the one who has learned and changed the most.

Plot Keywords: male frontal nudity, female frontal nudity, actual animal killed, dead boy, art, dust storm, blackface ...

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#11. House of Games (1987)

Storyline: A famous psychologist, Margaret Ford, decides to try to help one of her patients get out of a gambling debt. She visits the bar where Mike, to whom the debt is owed, runs poker games. He convinces her to help him in a game: her assignment is to look for "tells", or give-away body language. What seems easy to her becomes much more complex.

Plot Keywords: con, surprise ending, playing poker, lighting a cigarette for a woman, author, con game, pack of money ...

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#12. Slap Shot (1977)

Storyline: Located in the US Rust Belt, Charlestown is home of the hapless Chiefs, a losing Federal League hockey team whose games are poorly attended. To make money, the team's unknown owner makes its manager, Joe McGrath, do cheesy publicity much to the players' chagrin. Rumors abound among the players that if the local mill closes, the team will fold. Just before the official announcement is made, the team's aging player/coach, Reggie Dunlop, does get wind that the mill is indeed closing and that this season will be the team's last. Beyond efforts to reconcile with his wife Francine, who loves Reggie but doesn't love his career, Reggie begins to focus on how to renew interest in the team for a possible sale as he knows if the team folds, his hockey career is over. Without telling anyone of his plan, he begins a rumor that the owner is negotiating a sale with a city in Florida. He also decides that "goon" hockey - most especially using the untapped talents of the recently acquired childlike ...

Plot Keywords: ice hockey, cult film, unemployment, jock strap, 1970s, satire, small town ...

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#13. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)

Storyline: It's 1881 in New Mexico, and the times they are a'changing. Pat Garrett, erstwhile travelling companion of the outlaw Billy the Kid has become a sheriff, tasked by cattle interests with ridding the territory of Billy. After Billy escapes, Pat assembles a posse and chases him through the territory, culminating in a final confrontation at Fort Sumner, but is unaware of the full scope of the cattle interests' plans for the New West.

Plot Keywords: death of father, man punching a woman, lying in wait, knife throwing, hanging, drunkenness, death ...

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#14. Michael Clayton (2007)

Storyline: Michael Clayton, a high-priced law firm's fixer, leaves a late night poker game, gets a call to drive to Westchester, and watches his car blow up as he's taking an impromptu dawn walk through a field. Flash back four days. He owes a loan shark to cover his brother's debts (Michael's own gambling habits have left him virtually broke). His law firm is negotiating a high-stakes merger, and his firm's six year defense of a conglomerate's pesticide use is at risk when one of the firm's top litigators goes off his meds and puts the case in jeopardy. While Michael is trying to fix things someone decides to kill him. Who? Meanwhile his son summarizes the plot of a dark fantasy novel.

Plot Keywords: title appears in writing, car fire, card playing, commercial, computer, corporation, crying ...

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#15. Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Storyline: Having taught at the best institutions in the country aside from other more eclectic jobs, James Leeds, with progressive methods, has just started teaching at a school for the deaf on an island off the New England coast, he assigned primarily to a speech class for the upper grades. At the school, he quickly notices the young cleaning woman, who he learns is twenty-five year old Sarah Norman and who, deaf herself, was once a student there and has been there since the age of five. He can see that she is bright, headstrong and angry, on top of which she doesn't speak, the latter issues a result of a troubled home life, her mother, her only touchstone to family, who she has purposefully not seen in eight years. As he is able to get through to most of his students to feel more and more comfortable in speaking for a more holistic life, Jim, with the reluctant blessing of the school's superintendent Dr. Curtis Franklin, who has always and still considers Sarah a proverbial pain in the ...

Plot Keywords: deafness, teacher, janitor, cat, f word, electronic music score, source music ...

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