Reviews

I loved this little Canadian-made film! It's a great nerd-coming-of-age story. Even though I'm way older than any of the characters in this movie, it still somehow connected with me on the emotional level numerous times. The script is great and the acting is excellent, performed by a well-cast ensemble group. Isaiah Lehtinen did a great job in the lead. I now have a huge crush on Romina D'Ugo! The washed-out suburban no-name locations were a perfect fit for that particular story. Writer-Director Chandler Levack has a great future ahead of her. I would recommend this film to anyone who loves movies!

Paterson is one of the most beautiful and moving films I have seen in a long, long time. A contemplative film that examines the beauty and meaning of the small things and moments in life. The entire ensemble cast is excellent, but Adam Driver stands out for his portrayal of the main character. It's essentially a poem on film by Jim Jarmusch! I would recommend this film to anyone as an antidote to mega blockbuster superhero movies. I can't imagine anyone not being touched in some way by this film.

Unfortunately I was quite disappointed by this film. The subject-matter and trailers had intrigued me. I found it impossible to connect emotionally with the one-dimensional main character Jim, as played by Mark Wahlberg. He is a heavy-duty gambling addict throughout the film, but at no time do we get any insight into how he might have gotten that way. I found that Wahlberg's character, as well as the three main dark characters to whom he owes money, were almost comic book cut-outs from some sort of graphic novel. No depth to them; no convincing gravitas - somehow one-dimensional.

I also found that the writing was marginal at best, with a lot of dialog that just didn't seem natural or authentic. Strange details too; such as the main character, who is an associate professor of English at a fictitious college, always seems to be wearing a tailored suit. And do associate professors of English at no-name colleges actually earn $150K to $200K per year as the script alleges? The female romantic interest in the film seems redundant and almost artificially injected into the story. Any chemistry between she and gambler Jim is tepid at best and doesn't ring true. Finally, the "typical Hollywood ending" of this film was so predictable as to be laughable.

Bottom line: Although I went to see "The Gambler" with an open mind and high hopes, in the end I felt cheated.