The Gambler
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Jessica Lange
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Synopsis:
Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is the entitled grandson of the 17th wealthiest man in California, and is a college lit professor. He also has a gambling problem, seeing the world as an "all or nothing" deal, he strives to have it all but ends up loosing more than winning.
He falls into hard times, owing $260,000 to the owner of an underground gambling ring, and another $50,000 to loan shark Neville Baraka (Michael K. Williams). Unable to pay these debts he goes to Frank (John Goodman), another loan shark, but refuses his money after Frank demands Jim to admit he's less of a man. So Jim turns to his wealthy mother Roberta (Jessica Lange), who gives him the money that he then gambles away while out with his student Amy (Brie Larson).
Facing possible death at the hands of Neville, Jim uses one of his students to possibly throw an important basketball game and gain enough money to pay off the debts and also live free and have more power than he ever had before, if the basketball player agrees to the deal.
Review:
A remake of the James Caan film from 1974, "The Gambler" was billed as an action-thriller, but instead audiences were greeted with a more introspective, philosophical and existential soiree into the mind of Jim Bennett who is not just the main character of the film, but someone we're supposed to care and root for. Instead, we yearn for his own destruction, as he is the most arrogant, moronic, and self-deprecating human in the whole film. Not only does he squander his mother's gift (after he tells her in no uncertain terms he never wants to talk to her again after she helped him), he treats everyone with contempt, like he's the higher being among ants, but in reality he's the least of them all.
The supporting characters sometimes had more emotion than the main character, especially John Goodman and Jessica Lange, who were both terribly underused in the film. Jim's students served as nothing more than plot devices to drag the film along, and the loan sharks played their parts well, if not merely one-dimensional.
The story seems to hop from one scene to another without a cohesive flow, and although the film was shot in a beautiful dark style (much like "John Wick") that expresses the depravity of the main character, it doesn't fully connect in a way it should, as we're still expecting some action in a film that has very little of it.
Summary:
If it were billed as a different type of film, "The Gambler" might've been better, but instead of an action-thriller, we're treated with a tale of one sociopathic man's desire to be even more than he is.
My Rating: B+
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