Rupert Wyatt’s “The Gambler” is simply a good movie. It’s a remake of the 1974 James Caan film of the same name, but this version isn’t a carbon copy. While the basic floor plan remains, certain important events are rearranged, altered — not always for the better, by the way — or even removed altogether. Having seen the original fairly recently, there was just enough change in Wyatt’s version to keep me on my toes. Yet, as entertaining as the movie can be, “The Gambler” still suffers from some glaring issues that keep it from achieving greatness.
The picture revolves around Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg, nicely fitting into Caan’s shoes), a literature professor with a costly extracurricular activity. By day, he teaches English 101 to a class full of disinterested students; by night, he’s gambling, which leaves him with a massive debt.
Instead of mingling with other literature professors or scholarly people talking Chaucer or Joyce, he’s most at home in dangerous places with low-life criminals. He loves the thrill of gambling, putting everything on the line and potentially winning it all.
On top of that, his teaching style is aggressive and blunt, to say the least: During one lecture, he very frankly announces that most of the students won’t be good writers, even the students who want to be in English 101.
His confidence level is extremely high; he never comes off as a pathetic addict. When his shady debt collectors come knocking, he doesn’t beg them for another week. Instead, he wears an apathetic guise — not caring whether he ends up in a ditch somewhere — to buy more time.
Bennett is the most compelling part of “The Gambler” because he’s both likable and unlikable at the same time. This tension proves to be the driving force in the entire movie: You hate to see Bennett in these tight situations, but he brings them on himself.
With the rest of the movie, Wyatt finds a middle ground between an ultra-depressing addiction movie — in the vein of Steve McQueen’s “Shame” — and a pulpy, semi-comedic, crime drama. At times, it can be quite somber and uncomfortable, but the comedic undertones also make it more enjoyable and easier to consume. Still, sometimes the comedic scenes can feel too cartoony — for example, when Bennett eggs on one of his debt collector’s associates and gets punched repeatedly for it. These scenes simply feel too out of place, especially when juxtaposed with very serious ones, like when Bennett sits in his bathtub thinking about his massive debt.
In addition, the debt collectors themselves (played by John Goodman and Michael K. Williams) come right out of a B-gangster picture — Goodman’s character, in particular. While he’s definitely fun to watch in the typical loudmouth John Goodman way, he doesn’t get very many scenes and, therefore, comes off as no more than a caricature.
There are other issues concerning supporting characters, most notably the romantic subplot between Bennett and a student named Amy (Brie Larson): Put simply, it just isn’t developed enough. Wyatt only devotes a few scenes to the relationship, not allowing for any kind of substantial connection to form, and he forces this undercooked subplot into the final frames of the movie.
From a technical standpoint, “The Gambler” is also a mixed bag. There are odd, stylistic flourishes — the use of jump cuts while Amy is walking to campus, a lengthy sequence toward the end involving Bennett running to meet someone, a five-minute-long college basketball scene, various moments of slow motion —that come off as unnecessary indulgence.
At the same time, the soothing ambient score by Jon Brion and Theo Green is outstanding, providing perfect background sound for the more uneasy and melancholy moments.
All in all, “The Gambler” is an entertaining, though somewhat forgettable affair — a great central performance surrounded by an uneven movie.