Director: Rupert Wyatt; Screenwriter: William Monahan; Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael K Williams, Alvin Ing, Anthony Kelley; Running time: 111 mins; Certificate: 15
Crime pays but blackjack most certainly doesn't in The Gambler, a so-so existential thriller based on the cult '70s film starring James Caan. Mark Wahlberg doesn't look too comfortable in those hand-me-down shoes, or with the tousled hair that is supposed to imply hours spent scratching his head over thoughts of his own mortality and the complete works of William Shakespeare.
He is no-one's idea of a literature professor and yet, that's the day job of James Bennett, whose nights are spent in high-stakes gambling dens run by Korean gangsters. The joy of winning is always short-lived because his next move is an all-or-nothing bet that leaves him with, guess what - nothing, except the threat of imminent death. It's this compulsion that...
Crime pays but blackjack most certainly doesn't in The Gambler, a so-so existential thriller based on the cult '70s film starring James Caan. Mark Wahlberg doesn't look too comfortable in those hand-me-down shoes, or with the tousled hair that is supposed to imply hours spent scratching his head over thoughts of his own mortality and the complete works of William Shakespeare.
He is no-one's idea of a literature professor and yet, that's the day job of James Bennett, whose nights are spent in high-stakes gambling dens run by Korean gangsters. The joy of winning is always short-lived because his next move is an all-or-nothing bet that leaves him with, guess what - nothing, except the threat of imminent death. It's this compulsion that...
- 1/22/2015
- Digital Spy
The Gambler is a film about an English literature professor with a dark side, a gambling addiction that has gotten him into debt with Los Angeles gangsters to the tune of $240,000. The film was directed by Rupert Wyatt (best known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)). The film’s screenplay was written by William Monahan (The Departed (2006)), based on the James Toback screenplay for the original film in 1974.
The new film opens with Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) at the bedside of his dying grandfather Ed Bennett (George Kennedy) – not what you would call an upbeat start. After the obligatory funeral scene, Jim goes directly to an underground casino to blow off some steam, where he proceeds to lose a lot. We are now introduced to the gangster who owns the casino, Mr. Lee (Alvin Ing), who gives Jim seven days to pay his $240,000 debt. The clock starts ticking.
The new film opens with Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) at the bedside of his dying grandfather Ed Bennett (George Kennedy) – not what you would call an upbeat start. After the obligatory funeral scene, Jim goes directly to an underground casino to blow off some steam, where he proceeds to lose a lot. We are now introduced to the gangster who owns the casino, Mr. Lee (Alvin Ing), who gives Jim seven days to pay his $240,000 debt. The clock starts ticking.
- 12/25/2014
- by Steven Gahm
- CinemaNerdz
For the purposes of this review, it doesn't matter that there's a movie from the '70s starring James Caan that is a key piece of the James Toback mythology as created by James Toback himself that is also called "The Gambler." This film doesn't exist without that film as a springboard, but screenwriter William Monahan, director Rupert Wyatt, and star Mark Wahlberg have made something that lives and dies on its own merits, in its own voice, worthy of its own conversation. "The Gambler" details a week in the life of a desperate man. Setting a ticking clock is an easy way to get the audience hooked early. In "A Most Violent Year," someone signs a business deal that has a hard 30-day-pay-or-quit clause built in, and you know that you're going to see every second of every one of those days of someone struggling to meet that deadline.
- 11/11/2014
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
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