7 Days to Vegas

What a fun film! I actually watched it twice which I never do. It's funny and I thought very well written. I found myself laughing out loud in some of the scenes. I loved the ending, but no spoiler info out of my mouth. I liked this film from start to finish! Bravo!!

This Van Patten family project is based on a true incident that happened to star Vincent Van Patten back in the 90s. He did actually make a bert he could walk from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 7 days. vince wrote the script allegedly based on some Hollywood characters he knew. They must have been some colorful bunch.

That's the strength of 7 Days To Vegas, the colorful characters that creator Vince Van Patten drew. The film is structured a whole lot like the Martin Scorsese classic Casino. As that is a real favorite of mine I couldn't help but like 7 Days To Vegas.

The villain of the piece is Ross McCall a full of himself director with a big bankroll who likes to take chances. He doesn't have even surface likability, but the money keeps people hanging on and he's a good gambler.

The climax belongs to brother James Van Patten. I won't say more, you have to see it to believe it.

This is one good enjoyable almost caper like film.

Pretty cool story. I can't believe this is actually true. Wasn't the greatest movie but definitely watchable. Found myself trying to Google everything about this story. Come to find out most of the characters are basically 4 or 5 people mixed into one. I wonder who the big film producer was. I'm guessing Charlie Sheen was the famous actor with a drug problem.

The Sting, this movie is not. But it definitely was a guilty pleasure if you enjoy films with a plot twists and "gotchas" at the end. Van Patten stars as the narrator and main character in this ensemble cast of degenerate, quirky gamblers. These characters distract viewers along the journey towards the somewhat predictable ending. But despite knowing the destination, I still had a good time.

Duke (Vincent Van Patten) has his friendly poker game in his home in the Valley. They are a variety of Hollywood adjacent people. When their game gets robbed, Duke moves it to a higher-class Beverly Hills bar. Poker game shows start blowing up on TV. Duke attracts richer Hollywood types like arrogant director Sebastian (Ross McCall). Duke start making real money until a crooked private investor steals all his money. Sebastian cons him out of more money and steals his game. In frustration, he makes millions dollars bet with Sebastian that he could walk to Vegas in 7 days.

This is supposed to be inspired by true events. It certainly paints a realistic picture of the worst degenerate gamblers. They are ready to bet on anything at any moment. I love that they negotiate a detailed contract on the big bet. It is what degenerate gamblers do. I have to say that the final twist is obvious as soon as Sebastian picks the replacement. That loses the movie a bit at its climatic point. Otherwise, the 7 day bet is pretty compelling.