The Gambler stars Mark Wahlberg as Jim Bennett, a compulsive gambler and literature professor forced to borrow money from his mother (Jessica Lange) and a shady loan shark (John Goodman) when his situation becomes a matter of life and death, all the while struggling with a developing relationship with one of his students (Brie Larson). Ostensibly a remake of the 1974 thriller starring James Caan,stars Mark Wahlberg as Jim Bennett, a compulsive gambler and literature professor forced to borrow money from his mother (Jessica Lange) and a shady loan shark (John Goodman) when his situation becomes a matter of life and death, all the while struggling with a developing relationship with one of his students (Brie Larson).





Whilst failing on many levels to reach the cult status of the original, the remake is slicker and much better looking; there is a nice juxtaposition between the uninviting grey exteriors and the warm, welcoming interiors of casinos and smoke-choked bars. The soundtrack has been given a rollicking update, most notably a very enjoyable use of M83 towards the very end, whilst the editing is appropriately smoother.









Transformers: Age of Extinction, Jessica Lange is stealing the show as the scathingly disapproving mother constantly delivering ultimatums to her son who seems unable to stop throwing his money away. John Goodman is also an enjoyable presence as the Jabba-like loan shark whose blubbery form casts another shadow over Wahlberg’s performance. One would imagine (with his face plastered all over the posters) that Mark Wahlberg would be the performance to sing about, but this really isn’t the case. While he’s busy being an even less convincing English teacher than he was a madcap inventor in, Jessica Lange is stealing the show as the scathingly disapproving mother constantly delivering ultimatums to her son who seems unable to stop throwing his money away. John Goodman is also an enjoyable presence as the Jabba-like loan shark whose blubbery form casts another shadow over Wahlberg’s performance.





The Departed writer William Monahan who gave us the former’s most radical screen role. Brie Larson is saddled with the ‘redemptive lover’ role which gives her very little to do, and again raises the question about why we should even care about Bennett in the first place: this is a man who spends his daylight hours leaping around a lecture theatre preaching to his students whilst using the cover of night to burn his wealth and relationships to the ground. In the end, Wahlberg has fallen into a role which feels sadly replaceable, despite being scripted bywriter William Monahan who gave us the former’s most radical screen role.





It’s neither an incredibly intelligent nor particularly inventive upgrade but it is at least smart enough to realise that you don’t care enough about the protagonist to warrant a heart-racing climax but a simple and satisfying conclusion. Despite the heavily flawed central performance and the flat script there’s enough technically accomplished, B-movie thrills to provide a passable, throwaway update.





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