Storyline
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying one step ahead, he pits his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring while garnering the attention of Frank, a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.
Directors
Cast
Mark Wahlberg, Da'Vone McDonald, Omar Leyva, Leland Orser, Michael Kenneth Williams, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Steve Park, Lauren Weedman, Jessica Lange, Andre Braugher, George Kennedy, Emory Cohen, Amin Joseph, Jacob Bertrand, Teebone Mitchell, Griffin Cleveland, Anthony Kelley, Chil Kong, Cjon Saulsberry, Alvin Ing, Jasmond Carroll, Ria Wilkinson
Trailer
Reviews
83
This is a film that is quietly confident. Everything's well-composed. Everything's put together right. There's a very sure hand on the wheel here, and at this point, I'm sold on Rupert Wyatt as a guy who can tell a story with a certain kind of intelligence, both towards his subject and towards his audience.
80
The Guardian
This spiral of self-imposed despair feels like part three of a trilogy of American financial darkness after Killing Them Softly and The Counsellor. The Gambler isn’t quite so audience-unfriendly, but those looking for a typical Wahlberg thriller might come away disappointed. Others looking for a less sure bet might reap the rewards.
75
For all the hundreds of thousands of dollars being thrown around, The Gambler is much closer to a friendly game of poker with some loquacious, quick-witted friends than a glimpse at the gambling world’s dark underbelly. Neither is it a preachy moral tale.
70
In nearly every scene, Wahlberg carries off the central role with what could be called determined elan.
67
In any case, none of the gambles Jim makes over the course of the movie are as ballsy as the film’s casting strategy. Will audiences really buy Mark Wahlberg as a wordsmith too brilliant for academia? Smart money says no.
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