Risk is everywhere, but Mark Wahlberg has bet BIG in making The Gambler.
Unfortunately, this is a movie that tried to go indie for some artsy cred. Instead, it just warbles along through a copy-and-paste script about a dude with nothing to lose and with no regard for his own life or those of others. It’s a story that is tired and, for The Gambler to work, really needed to invigorate the trope and bring something new to the blackjack table.
I don’t blame Mark for this. He is a great actor who makes the role of Literary Associate Professor, Jim Bennett, his own. Through the early setup, we see circumstance lead to Jim casting aside his job and his family and he delves deeper into debt with the loan sharks
The problem here is that – from the outset – his character is unlikable. Wahlberg battles with a shtick that becomes tiresome by the second act, The result is an audience wondering why they should care about him at all.
Brie Larson gets the regrettable role of the love interest. She plays Amy Phillips – one of Jim’s students who happens to cross paths through her job as a waitress in an underground mansion casino.
Umm… What?
Why does she work there? It’s never explained. No matter. She’s simply thrown in as a plot device to help explain why Jim Bennett is the pessimistic gloomy shell that he portrays as they sorta fall in and out of a fling that tries to make us care if they are together at the end.
Director Rupert Wyatt dropped the ball on this one. It’s a shame, given this is the man who gave us the surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Unfortunately, The Gambler has noticeably bad edits that look to be covering even bigger errors. His shot selection is on-point, but often is let down by not-so-great cinematography and a lazy colour grade at times.
Okay, after all that, here are the saving graces:
The settings are cool, the soundtrack features French band M83, and the atmosphere and tone are perfectly tense and interesting during the gambling scenes. However, when this is intercut with monotonous monologues from Wahlberg preaching the same message its impact is lost on the audience and makes The Gambler about as exciting a three hours in front of a poker machine.
At least it’s cheaper, and you’ll have plenty to spend on a choc-top as well. Don’t take our word for it, though. Take a punt and head along to find out for yourself.
