The Gambler, 2014.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Brie Larson, Jessica Lange, Michael K. Williams and John Goodman.
SYNOPSIS:
Lit professor and gambler Jim Bennett’s debt causes him to borrow money from his mother and a loan shark. Further complicating his situation is his relationship with one of his students. Will Bennett risk his life for a second chance?
A remake of a much-revered 70’s classic starring the ever-so-cool James Caan, The Gambler is another in a long line of stylish, sophisticated films from an era gone by that Hollywood wants to reinvent and refresh, seeing the potential to say something new and interesting in a much changed America. But with any remake, you better make sure you don’t mess with original, and sadly for Mark Wahlberg’s 2014 version, that’s exactly what has happened.
The new version sees Wahlberg as Jim Bennett, a literary professor who is surviving life through his obsession with gambling. While other teachers take up a sport or try something artistic, Bennett is more comfortable surrounded by the ever-changing odds from a deck of cards and the smoke-filled air of a gambling establishment. Having almost lost his ability to function as a normal member of society, his life now consistent of the four lonely walls of his classroom and his gambling, only feeling the thrill of any shred of existence through a few colourful chips and high-numbered money bars.
But the big question that we want to know is how did this everyday professor become so dour, so shallow and have such an inability to perform in a normal environment despite having a perfectly normal life. There are hints of an answer in the few brief scenes with his mother (a woefully underused Jessica Lange), delving into his obvious brattish upbringing, as well a fewer quieter moments away from the casino as Brie Larson, another excellent talent wasted, gallantly tries to coax him from his stupor, but we never discover why his circuits are switched to self-destruct, and as such the film loses any sort of intensity or thrust.
Furthermore, without any shred of wisdom peering its head in as the clock ticks to the inevitable conclusion, it makes it all the easier to root for the bad guys, rather the recognition of his ways that steer him towards the light rather than the murkiness. Bennett seems to find some twisted comfort in his never-ending merry-go-round of personal destruction, so you’d have thought that a moment of clarity is just what he needs, but the film takes pleasure in showing the annihilation of ones self rather than the power of redemption. For an audience, there is none.
Director Wyatt has talent in spades, as seen in the first Apes reboot, but he falls foul to the dull, empty nature of the script. The film certainly looks the part, and the director and his photographer Greig Fraser fill the screen with the gritty greys and blacks of the casino walls, offset with the beauty of Los Angeles. But the direction is flat and dreary where there should be verve and energy, with Wyatt desperately striving for the slickness of both the original and that of many smooth 70’s staple, but no amount of nostalgia or eclectic musical accompaniments will make up for a limp story or wasting a talented cast.
What saves the film from being a total failure is the performance of Mark Wahlberg, who just about keeps the flimsiness of the film’s script together just as they seem to be falling apart. This was a passion project for Wahlberg, who is one of the films producers, and the actor saw the obvious potential in the material that would stretch him beyond his usual action hero persona, and keep the bulging biceps aside. Instead, he goes gaunt and shaggy haired, stripping himself away almost to the bare bones in his most polished performance since The Departed, despite the unappealing aspects of his titular Gambler. It’s the sort of mature performance than again asks why doesn’t Wahlberg gamble more with his roles, rather than playing it safe?
While there are glimpses of satisfaction in The Gambler, they are few and far between in a film that misses a great opportunity to give a neat new twist on an old classic. Wahlberg saves the film from the dreaded one star status, and the supporting casts try to inject some class, but Wyatt’s direction is tired and gloomy, and the script plays it too safe rather than taking a true gamble and risking it all. Hugely disappointing.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Scott Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1421828030&x-yt-cl=84411374&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&v=qqtW2LRPtQY&feature=player_embedded
Originally published January 28, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
