Don’t waste your money. Marky Mark is on a bad roll.
The Gambler (Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jessica Lange, Michael Kenneth Williams) – Destined for a quick death at a theater near you, The Gambler isn’t worthy of a Christmas Day release. A remake of the 1974 film by the same name and starring James Caan, this version is a dark, sophomoric, bigoted mess.
Mark Wahlberg stars as Jim Bennett, a college literature professor with a bad outlook and a belief that his students are wasting their time because none is ever going to make it as a writer. But teaching is just his day job, one for which he has little interest. He lives for the nighttime when he gambles at private clubs in the dark recesses of L.A.
There isn’t a redeeming quality to Bennett. So as much as we, the audience, want to root for Wahlberg the actor, that instinct is quickly eliminated when you remember that Bennett the character is just a screwed up rich kid who has no governor on his gambling habit. Bet big, lose big! Unlike most addicts who win occasionally, Bennett never seems to win. He doesn’t even seem to get any juice from the action.
When he gets into major debt to both the Koreans (led by Mr. Lee, played by Alvin Ing) and the African Americans (led by Neville Baraka, played by Michael Kenneth Williams), all in frightfully stereotyped roles, it looks like he has no way out. But Bennett is definitely resourceful. And in a totally unbelievable turn, we end up in the pivotal scene of the movie in a back-room casino with a quarter-of-a-million dollars on the line.
The movie is only worth it to see the performance of John Goodman as a bald, ruthless, sage loan shark who seems to have a soft spot for Bennett. If he didn’t spend most of the film without his shirt on, Goodman might even be Oscar worthy. But really, isn’t Wahlberg the one who should be baring his chest on screen and not Goodman?
Anyway, back to the movie. In short, don’t waste your time. With all the quality movies debuting this holiday season, The Gambler is a loser.