Best movies like The Halo Effect

Gambling's not a problem... The problem's not winning

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Halo Effect Starring Stephen Rea, Grattan Smith, Kerry Condon, Brendan Cauldwell, and more. If you liked The Halo Effect then you may also like: The Yank, The Van, On the Nose, Queen of the Morning Calm, Kiss Me Kate and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Fatso is the proprietor of what may be the worst eaterie in the city, and is struggling to keep a sinking ship afloat. His compulsive gambling is getting the better of him and he has to contend with an endless succession of loan sharks and debt collectors. He employs hopelessly incompetent staff and generally manages to keep the entire community around him ticking over. However just as Fatso seems to be getting everything under control, he is faced with a dilemma that could destroy him for good.

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Know any good movies to watch like The Halo Effect 2004. With a similar plot or stoyline. Suggest it.
3.5 / 10 2014 Comedy
suggested by: SunlitSloth

The Yank

Tom Murphy, a middle-aged Irish-American man from Cleveland, travels to Ireland for his best friend’s wedding and to find the perfect woman.

6.3 / 10 1996 Comedy Drama
suggested by: OceanicOctopus

The Van

In a working-class quarter of Dublin, 'Bimbo' Reeves gets laid off from his job and, with his redundancy payout, buys a van and sells fish and chips with his buddy, Larry. Due to Ireland's surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well, but the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo behaves more like a typical boss.

5.5 / 10 2001 Comedy Fantasy
suggested by: user572g9f1pf5o

On the Nose

Brendan is a janitor at a university who has a fondness for gambling, especially betting on horse races. However, he doesn't have much skill at it, and poorly considered bets have drained the bank account he'd set aside for his daughter's education. Brendan's wife has made Brendan promise to give up gambling, but when their daughter announces she's just been accepted to Trinity College in Ireland, Brendan has to come up with the tuition money, and fast. While doing his sweeping at work, Brendan makes a remarkable discovery - the preserved head of an aboriginal tribesman who, under proper conditions, can pick the winners in horse races.

Queen of the Morning Calm

Follows 29-year-old immigrant sex worker Debra, and her self-aware 10-year-old daughter Mona, as they embark on a journey of emancipation. Debra attempts to escape cycles of abuse and poverty while learning to become a more nurturing mother and discovering her own self-worth.

Kiss Me Kate

Fred and Lilli are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play. A fight on the opening night threatens the production, as well as two thugs who have the mistaken idea that Fred owes their boss money and insist on staying next to him all night.

7.1 / 10 2000 Drama
suggested by: gymrat

Saltwater

An Irish-Italian café owner in a seaside town faces a life crisis, as his wife recently died and he's severely in debt. His oldest son tries to help, but has serious problems of his own, while his younger son and daughter are having troubles in school.

Fever Pitch

An investigative journalist gets hooked on the subject of his inquiry — organized gambling.

Fingers

A wanna-be concert pianist spends his days making a living by collecting debts for his Mafioso father, a lifestyle that could eventually ruin his dreams of a musical career.

The Florentine

The bar in an old Pennsylvania steel town, housed with many of life's losers and disillusioned men, is the main setting for this slice-of-life film. Michael Madsen is the bar owner, who is deep in debt to the town's book-maker and loan shark Burt Young. Chris Penn is one of the bar's main inhabitants as he hides from his failing marriage to Mary Stuart Masterson. The bartender's sister (Virginia Madsen) is about to be married, and her former fiancé (Tom Sizemore) shows up in town, after leaving her at the altar years before. Con man James Belushi runs a con on Perry to steal the money for the wedding caterer. As every plot in this multi layered story seems to be at it's worst, things look up because of an unlikely hero.

The Gambler

Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.

Perrier's Bounty

A gangster named Perrier looks to exact his revenge on a trio of fugitives responsible for the accidental death of one of his cronies.

Somers Town

Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek (Piotr Jagiello) lives in the district of Somers Town, between King's Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link.

Guess Who

When a young African-American woman brings her fiancé home to meet her parents, she's neglected to mention one tiny detail - he's white.

The Informer

Gypo Nolan is a former Irish Republican Army man who drowns his sorrows in the bottle. He's desperate to escape his bleak Dublin life and start over in America with his girlfriend. So when British authorities advertise a reward for information about his best friend, current IRA member Frankie, Gypo cooperates. Now Gypo can buy two tickets on a boat bound for the States, but can he escape the overwhelming guilt he feels for betraying his buddy?

Making the Grade

Lazy preppie Palmer Woodrow hires street-smart Eddie Keaton to go to school for him while he lives it up in Europe. Eddie falls in love with preppie gal Tracey, upsetting Biff, the Hoover Academy bully. When his bookie from the old neighborhood, Dice, comes to collect on Eddie's gambling debts and Palmer returns early from Europe, the the scheme slowly starts to unravel. Soon, Eddie can't even tell whose side he's really on.

The Stag

At his fiancée’s urging, a very modern Irish groom-to-be reluctantly agrees to a stag weekend with his friends, camping in the western wilderness of Ireland. Much to their chagrin, these modern men are joined by the brother of the bride, a crazy, unpredictable alpha male known as “The Machine”, and an explosive Id to their collective Ego. The Machine is a force of nature, and under his leadership, the men—stripped of modern comfort, convenience and, finally, clothing—must begin their journey into the wild.

Sucker Punch

Ray 'Harley' Davidson is a hustler. With flash clothes and a fast mouth, Harley lives life in the fast lane. With his passion for all things gambling, money runs like water through Harley's hands and as quickly as he makes a killing he takes a beating, normally at the poker table. Nominally an illegal prize-fight manager, Harley hasn't produced a live one in months, until Charles Buchinsky literally wanders into his life. Charles Buchinsky, street fighter extraordinaire. He's from out of town looking for a fight and the chance to tie up a few loose ends. Keeps himself to himself, lets his fists do the talking and his word is his bond. Victor Maitland, top illegal fight promoter and porn baron. Hates losing and loves the prestige of managing the best hitter in town. Harley dreams of bringing Maitland down and after seeing Buchinsky at work, engineers a fragile partnership. The duo soon becomes a hot ticket...

Frogs for Snakes

A group of unemployed theater actors survive by working as illegal money collectors. The loan shark they are working for owns an Off-Broadway theater. As he decided to play "American Buffalo" there, a bloody battle for the favorite roles begin.

Lucky Girl

Kaitlyn is a high school student whose obsession with gambling leads to her accumulating a mountain of debt. Her habit also causes a high degree of family tension.

The O'Briens

Two years after the death of his beloved wife, Pat O'Brien summons his children back to their homestead in the west of Ireland. Fionn travels from New York, Gareth from London, and daughter Una returns from Dublin, fearing the worst. Pat is not the only family member bearing the burden of a secret. The O’Briens is a modern comedy about a dysfunctional Irish family and the town they grew up in.

I Went Down

Fresh out of prison, Git rescues a former best friend (now living with Git's girlfriend) from a beating at the hands of loan sharks. He's now in trouble with the mob boss, Tom French, who sends Git to Cork with another debtor, Bunny Kelly, to find a guy named Frank Grogan, and take him to a man with a friendly face at a shack across a bog. It's a tougher assignment than it seems: Git's a novice, Bunny's prone to rash acts, Frank doesn't want to be found (and once he's found, he has no money), and maybe Tom's planning to murder Frank, which puts Git in a moral dilemma. Then, there's the long-ago disappearance of Sonny Mulligan. What's a decent and stand-up lad to do?

For Pete's Sake

Henry is a woman who would do anything for her husband Pete, including borrow money so he has a chance of making his dreams come true. But now there's the loan sharks to deal with...

Skip Tracer

An accomplished repo man from Vancouver takes a new hire under his wing, while their morals and limits are tested on the job.

Chasing Destiny

A repossession agent falls in love with a woman whose father is high on his list of priority accounts.

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Three generations of women in a Mexican American family experience sexual awakenings over the course of a summer.

6.2 / 10 2014 Romance Comedy
suggested by: user277nf8iviid

Standby

Twenty-something Alan (Gleeson) is down on his luck. Stood up at the altar and recently fired from his banking job, he finds himself working with his mother as a part-time tourist advisor at Dublin Airport. It's there he comes face to face with first love Alice (Paré), stuck on standby for a flight home to New York. Their summer romance ended eight years previously with Alan promising to return to the US one day. He never did, and they haven't spoken since. Seizing his chance, Alan convinces a reluctant Alice to stay one more night in Dublin. Over the course of an unforgettable evening, they may just realise that they are more compatible than ever. But time is running out on this brief encounter. When does an unexpected second chance, become the one you've always been looking for? - Written by Wildcard Distribution

24 Hours of a Woman's Life

A compulsive gambler stumbles towards losing everything when Merle Oberon decides to save him from himself.

6.0 / 10 2004 Comedy
suggested by: SparklingSeagull

Man About Dog

Three pedigree chumps learn that every underdog has its day in this freewheeling Irish comedy. In hock to the tune of £50,000 to a Belfast bookie and saddled with a dopey greyhound that wouldn't run if its backside was on fire, the likely lads head south on a road trip in the hope of seeing a man about a dog. Foul-mouthed and funny, Man About Dog is full of great craic.

The Debt Collector

A classically-trained martial artist goes to work as a debt collector for the mob. The job seems easy enough, until one “client” pulls him into a situation deeper than could ever be expected.

6.0 / 10 2010 Drama Comedy
suggested by: GoldenGiraffe

The Runway

The Runway is inspired by the true story of a South American pilot who landed his plane near Mallow, in 1983. Against all odds, the people of the town came together to build a runway to get him home and briefly caught the imagination of the nation. It is the story of Paco, a young boy without a father who adopts the pilot and convinces the town to build a runway to get him home.

The Closer You Get

Irish lads send an ad to the Miami Herald inviting fit and enticing women, between the ages of 20 and 21, to live in their isolated Donegal village. The whole town knows about the ad, and it sharpens everyone's sense of the opportunities for happiness already at hand. Kate, a publican with a young daughter, is separating from her husband and catches the eye of a bachelor sheep farmer. Kieran the butcher realizes that his assistant Siobhan is comely, and then he discovers she's fiery as well. Ollie sends off for Dutch skin magazines that the village postmistress won't release to him. The men, and women, find counsel in their movie-loving priest. Will anyone answer the ad?

Life's a Breeze

An unemployed slacker, his aged mother and his niece must overcome their many differences to find a lost fortune.

The Bill Collector

Uncle Frankie (Danny Trejo) is not the kind of guy you want to meet in a dark alley. Especially when you owe him money and have been giving him the slip for a few years. Such is the fate of Lorenzo Adams (Gary Moore), a top bill collector at Lump Sum Collections. Uncle Frankie has tracked Lorenzo to Norfolk, Virginia and is coming to collect.

Love & Teleportation

Brian Owens was once a prominent professor of quantum mechanics until an accident stripped him of his credentials; he now teaches at a community college. In order to reclaim his stature, he is trying to build the world's first teleportation machine in his garage at night. All of this while being romantically pursued by one of the art professors at the college, avoiding the crazy old lady next door, and being harassed by the loan sharks he borrowed money from to build his machine. But his biggest problem is he can't get his machine to work.​

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