Ostensibly a remake of the 1974 thriller starring James
Caan, 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).
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.
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 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.
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 by The Departed
writer 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.
★★★☆☆
