"The Gambler" Review

Title: The Gambler

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

Screenplay by: William Monahan

Year: 2014


The Gambler is a film that should work on paper. It stars Mark Wahlberg and John Goodman, it's directed by Rupert Wyatt, and written by William Monahan (The Departed). And yet, The Gambler falls short of expectation.

Jim Bennet (Wahlberg) is an avid gambler who owes money to several gangsters. He has one week to come up with over $250,000, but it seems the only way he can get that kind of money is by gambling.

This movie starts out well enough. We are introduced to Bennet in an underground casino and we see that he has a gambling addiction, which isn't really a shocker given the title. Then a gangster named Baraka (Michael K. Williams) enters the scene and we are treated to some pretty good dialogue. We are then shown that Bennet is also a professor of literature and we are given a very interesting sequence in a lecture hall. But after that, the movie loses all its intrigue, save for one aspect, which I'll get into later. Everything else from here on out though is downhill.

I truly think Mark Wahlberg is a good actor, I really do, but he is given nothing to do in this movie. His dialogue is bland and so is his character (aside from his scenes as the professor). And it's such a shame too because Monhan has proven that he can write for Wahlberg very well in The Departed. Wahlberg is simply miscast in this role. Jessica Lange plays Bennet's mother and she does well in the role. She fits the part but is featured for such little time in the film that her character doesn't leave much of an impression. The same can be said for John Goodman and his character, Frank. He was played up quite a bit in the trailers and yet he only has three or four scenes in the movie. I can easily say however, that his scenes are the best of the film. The dialogue, even Wahlberg's, is great. Goodman makes the most of the little time that he is given, especially with his "f**k you" speech. The scenes with Frank show that the movie had major potential. Another great addition to the cast is Michael K. Williams as a gangster to whom Bennet owes money, giving a very good performance. The last member of the cast is Brie Larson, who is a very plain character. She is given much to do and thus her character feels very tacked on.

The plot is very, very basic and equally repetitive. Bennet spends the entire movie trying to pay off some gangsters. That is essentially the entire film, with nothing much to add. And the movie spends its time juggling between these three gangsters. We keep revisiting them just to remind us that Bennet owes them money. Every time we see them, Bennet simply says he doesn't have the money, they may or may not beat him up, tell him to get the money, and we move on to the next scene. That's it, that's the plot. Things only start to get interesting again at the very end of the movie when Bennet believes he's found a way to pay off his debt. The execution is actually very well done and there is some genuine suspense. However, the very last shot of the movie doesn't hold any weight.

The music is another misstep. It's ear-grating to say the least. The songs played feel incredibly out of place as they don't have any relevance to film and add nothing to it. Speaking of things that are out of place, the premise of this film is that Bennet has seven days to pay off these gangsters. And how does this film keep track of the days? With goofy title cards. I would have expected a simple non-intrusive subtitle or something of the sort, but The Gambler puts all the color the movie is lacking into its title cards, which tell the audience which day it is. These title cards look as if they belong in a cartoon, which isn't beneficial to the dark, gritty atmosphere this movie is attempting to create. It's really rather laughable.

The cinematography is alright at best. There are some very good shots (particularly at the beginning and the end) but nothing really sticks out. The Gambler also looks very bland, visually. The lighting is pretty bad and the movie lacks a lot of color. It actually becomes a strain on the eyes after a while. Also, because of the lack of color, the film is missing a sense life. The repetitive plot doesn't help either, as it contributes to the bogging down of the film, which ends up trudging along through most of it runtime.

The Gambler is not a terrible movie, but it is by no means a good one. The biggest issue with it is how plain and dull it is. It is not boring, as it does make for an entertaining watch, but it lacks so much that we are just left with the bare bones of a film. There are some very good performances in here and some really great scenes, but the movie is weighed down with its sub-par plot, lack of color or life, and a few other issues. There really isn't much to say about this movie because it doesn't offer very much in the first place. The Gambler, essentially, is very underwhelming.

Grade: C