Vegas: Based on a True Story (2008)

The film takes place away from the glittering strip of mega casinos, but the greed of Sin City is just as pervasive on the desert outskirts. This is where a happy family learns of a forgotten fortune that may be buried beneath their home. Their lives are turned upside down. A sophisticated study of just how far people are able and willing to go if faced with the tempting prospect of easily acquired wealth.

A couple trying to control the demons that have nearly destroyed their lives finds temptation at their door in an unexpected form in this independent drama. Tracy (Nancy La Scala) and Eddie (Mark Greenfield) are a couple who live with their teenage son Mitch (Zach Thomas) in the Nevada desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Tracy and Eddie are addicted to gambling, and are struggling to steer clear of temptation with Sin City visible on the horizon; Tracy focuses on gardening and housework to keep her occupied, while Eddie hides the fact he sometimes falls off the wagon, indulging in slot machines as well as the liquor and tobacco he believes are linked to his weakness. Tracy and Eddie are living a life of quiet, slightly desperate domesticity when they receive an unexpected visitor, a stranger who claims to be a soldier on leave. The man tells Tracy and Eddie a story about how treasure is said to be buried on their property, and while they initially regard it as nonsense, in time their curiosity gets the better of them, and a malignly obsessed Eddie begins tearing apart the home they've built in search of a fortune that may or may not be there. Vegas: Based On A True Story was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.

Director: Amir Naderi
Stars: Mark Greenfield, Alexis Hart and Nancy La Scala
Production land: USA
Premiere Date: 1 September 2008 Venice Film Festival
IMDb - 6.4 (96 votes)