B

Rupert Wyatt directed this film, but it is very much a William-Monahan-scripted flick, through and through. The profanity-laced dialogues are so reminiscent of his work in The Departed. Mark Wahlberg does a fine job, but never in my life will I buy him as an English professor. He is a much more convincing gambler, though. I thought the roulette and blackjack scenes were very well done. Now this is maybe a bit of a personal connection to me, because every once in a long while I like to hit a casino and play roulette or blackjack, but I could totally feel the tension during those scenes and kept thinking what I'd do and how it would feel to be in Wahlberg's place.

In the end, the film kind of takes an easy way out, though. Brie Larson is a total total babe here, but she is severely underutilized. John Goodman's short appearance is memorable, but not just for his acting, but for how damn unhealthy he looks (they show him in a sauna). Damn, he needs to lose some weight, or he'll soon be part of a "RIP"-headline.

Goodman looked so good and healthy (compared to his heaviest days) a few years ago. I believe around the time he did Red State. Such a shame.

Almost fell asleep during the last third.

I have heard this is a bit Counselor-esque. A lot of scenes of characters delivering philosophical-worldview speeches at one another.

It is much less "out there" than The Counselor.

It has plenty of strong scenes but the story just doesn't live up to the power given to it. Brie Larson is the best part of this movie.

This was an ok movie. It's pretty much a by the numbers thriller with a slightly better than average cast. I would have expected more from this given the talent involved, but I'd still take this over laughable shit like Broken City anyday.

The story of a suicidal academic leading a double life in underground casinos, The Gambler plays first and foremost as Departed writer William Monahan's bid for comparisons to such screenwriter's screenwriters as Ernest Lehman and David Mamet. Based on the guarded-to-mixed response to the film upon its Christmas Day release at the end of last year, he will be regarded as having fallen short, but, in my opinion, it is a very entertaining film. I enjoyed the diversion-prone, macho, profane verbal gymnastics and slightly labyrinthine who-is-owed-what-and-by-when storytelling. And the keys actors, particularly John Goodman, Michael Kenneth Williams, and a gauntly dialed-down Mark Wahlberg, are able to internalize the stylized loquacity and deliver it is as if it is coming from an organic place. (The failure to do this can be a major problem, as evidenced by The Counselor.) And director Rupert Wyatt has a few low-light, lingering-cigarette-smoke flourishes up his sleeve, so the aesthetic is always chic and tough without becoming distracting. He also infuses the gambling sequences with legitimate tension even though the main character tends to embrace the same blunt-force system: he bets double or nothing every time until he loses. The significant flaw is predictable: the female characters are underdeveloped and ornamental, which is a shame considering the participation of performers as wonderful as Brie Larson and Jessica Lange. The former's subplot as a quasi-love interest is intended as this very manly, very stony film's heart, but it never ignites.

B+

I enjoyed this a great deal. Much better than I expected. And while the female characters may be underdeveloped I thought Jessica Lange and Brie Larson were great in their roles. Larson is so damn lovely.

I've never seen the original but on its own this remake was a very solid film.

8/10 (B+)

The Gambler

I really liked this, and I don't even fully know why. It's unusual, and nothing really happens. But it's mature, superbly filmed, with decent music and some interesting dialogue, though a little convoluted. I also feel that Mark Wahlberg is a little miscast, though at times he also nailed it. As a gambler, Marky Mark is believable, but as a professor it needed the gravitas of a George Clooney type. I was gripped from the very beginning. And Jessica Lange is pretty great.

B+

I think we saw enough of John Goodman, if you know what I mean.

You want his ball sack in your face or something?