The Last Casino
- TV Movie
- 2004
- 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
A university teacher recruits 3 bright students to learn the art of card counting and makes them play, and win, for him.A university teacher recruits 3 bright students to learn the art of card counting and makes them play, and win, for him.A university teacher recruits 3 bright students to learn the art of card counting and makes them play, and win, for him.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 5 nominations
Photos
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Chinese dialect that the tuna salesman and George speak is Cantonese.
- GoofsWhen George eats a hamburger in his hotel room you can hear the camera operator's footsteps as he walks backwards holding the camera.
- ConnectionsVersion of 21 (2008)
Featured review
The Last Casino - review
Before "21" came along, there was Pierre Gill's "The Last Casino," which is about Professor Barnes (played very well by Charles Martin Smith) creating his own card counting team to win a huge fortune in Canada's major casinos -- and, oh yes, Barnes also needs the money to pay off his booky Mr. Orr who has his own peculiar way of ensuring the prompt repayment of outstanding debts. "The Last Casino" has half the glitz and thrills of "21"; it even had to do without Kevin Spacey, Lawrence Fishburne and Rihanna's single "Shut up and drive." Yet, it was so much better and far more original than "21" ever was. Many factors contribute to making this under-appreciated film a jewel. To begin with, you can tell the writer Steven Westren put a lot of thought into his screenplay. He created original characters, including the ones that only had small parts. He put the protagonists -- essentially the team of card counters, Elyse (Katherine Isabelle), Scott (Kris Lemche) and George (Albert Chung) -- in the kinds of situations you (or I) would never expect in a film like this. But most importantly, Pierre Gill and Steven Westren succeeded in filling the scenes at the gambling table with tension and thereby conjured up the feelings and impulses of the people who were prepared to put tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table on a single bet. I also appreciated the surprise at the end of the film, which is so cleverly done that it may leave many of the viewers scratching their heads.
The other factor that makes this film great are the performances. Charles Martin Smith does a great job as the professor whose deep in debt, because his gambling via card counting finally got the best of him. Katherine Isabelle puts in a good performance as Elyse, as does Kris Lemche and Albert Chung as her companions so that, by the end, we (as an audience) are able to sympathize with all of them. But the one person who almost steals the show in this movie is Julian Richings whose performance as Mr. Orr must go down in the history books as one of the best (if not the best) villain roles in recent times.
The other factor that makes this film great are the performances. Charles Martin Smith does a great job as the professor whose deep in debt, because his gambling via card counting finally got the best of him. Katherine Isabelle puts in a good performance as Elyse, as does Kris Lemche and Albert Chung as her companions so that, by the end, we (as an audience) are able to sympathize with all of them. But the one person who almost steals the show in this movie is Julian Richings whose performance as Mr. Orr must go down in the history books as one of the best (if not the best) villain roles in recent times.
helpful•41
- jonathanruano
- Feb 20, 2009
Details
Box office
- Budget
- CA$5,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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