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Fan of the show, and one of our favorite people, Michael, requested we watch the movie 7 Days To Vegas on Prime Video.\xa0 Mike is a former Angelino, Vegas resident and pro gambler, so we knew he would like a movie about a poker player who takes a prop bet to walk from L.A. to Vegas.
But would we like it?
Not only did we like it, but in researching the movie, we fell deep into the Van Patten rabbit hole that continued as a 6 degrees of separation through-line for the entire show. We hope you were able to keep up!

The movie stars Vince Van Patten, his brother James Van Patten, his real-life wife Eileen Davidson (soap opera legend and Real Housewife of Beverly Hills), and has a cameo from his brother Nels Van Patten.

Vince's dad is the veteran actor Dick Van Patten, his aunt is actress Joyce Van Patten. His uncle is producer/director of Perry Mason, Timothy Van Patten. And his cousin is Talia Balsam, daughter of his Aunt Joyce and the celebrated actor Martin Balsam. Talia is the ex-wife of George Clooney and the current wife of John Slattery, who worked, of course, with Rich Sommer on Mad Men, which we'll get to later.

It's more about the prop bet than the poker table

7 Days to Vegas is a fun, easy movie about a crazy "prop bet" between a down and out actor and a douche-bag director and the crew of degenerate gamblers they play with. Poker players and gamblers will like it. Anyone who has lived on the fringes of Hollywood will recognize the characters as guys we all know.\xa0

Vimeo describes it as "an edgy comedy based on the true story of the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's biggest poker games. The names have been changed to protect the guilty."

We're not sure how much is true, but we know the bet was real because Vince van Patten was the guy who took the gamble. We know first hand that the depiction of the Hollywood private poker scene is spot on. And we know the Van Patten's have been a gambling family for generations. There's a lot of truth in this movie and in it's characters. It never does reach it's potential in our opinion only because we know people just like the ones in this movie, and they are a rich source for comedy, but 7 Days To Vegas is still worth the ride.

If you're looking for a feel-good, (The Hangover for guys over 40) 92-minute break from the crazy, check it out on Prime or Vimeo for rent or free on Tubi and Sling.

Big thanks to Mike for the recommendation!