Wahlberg’s gamble

THE GAMBLER

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Screenplay: William Monahan

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, John Goodman

Rating: 2/5

Mark Wahlberg goes for the most serious, scruffy performance of his career so far, playing a gambling addict who just cannot help himself go on a majorly self-destructive path that affects not only him, but also many of people around him. Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) loves the rush of playing blackjack, betting on roulette colours, and even going so far to cut cards with loan shark Neville Baraka (Michael K. Williams), the kind of person who does not look kindly on late payments. Taking part in an underground gambling ring owned by violent Koreans only takes up the night time of his life. When he is not busy losing money and owing a lot of important people lots of money, Jim is a literature professor who is struggling to keep his class interested in the subject he is teaching.

Is he purposefully setting himself up to hit rock bottom? It is an entirely conceivable theory, given the way he is acting. His shockingly cavalier attitude towards everything certainly suggests that whatever harm that may come to him is of absolutely no concern to him whatsoever. Threats from both the Koreans and the loan shark seem to have unfazed him. When he is given the deadline of seven days to come up with a grand total of $260,000, he has no trouble, nor any sense of shame in strutting back to his wealthy mother Roberta (Jessica Lange) to beg once again for money. Another very unwise plan of his includes approaching yet another loan shark, as if he does not have enough of those in his life. Frank (John Goodman) is quite an individual who enjoys talking the big talk, and showing to everyone who is boss, and Goodman has fun with this larger-than-life character, despite his limited screen time.

Wahlberg is in a highly dislikeable role, and seeing him as a supposedly intelligent English professor, who is quite possibly a genius as is hinted at throughout the film, talking about Shakespeare to a classroom full of college students is not without its awkward moments. His portrayal of an addict is never given enough room to breathe, which does nothing for the actor to show anything unique in his performance. Gambling addiction, like any addiction, can be seen as a disease, and the protagonist’s relentless effort to do nothing about it, provides interesting opportunities for the writer to explore in depth just what on earth is going on inside his head.

Sadly director Rupert Wyatt is interested only in stringing together one implausible subplot after another. Jim’s blossoming romance with his genius student Amy (Brie Larson) marks a particular low, as is everything that comesfrom it, and yes that includes that final clichéd scene of a last-minute dash. The talented Jessica Lange deserves a meatier supporting role than this, one that preferably includes something more than slapping Wahlberg across the face for being an ungrateful brat. The film also dabbles in sports betting, and an intentional rigging of scores to satisfy powerful betters. The well-intentioned message is clear: an addiction affects more than just the addict. The final execution however falls short of delivering it.