The Gambler 2014 review

Posted by user510 on October 18, 2015 at 18:17:44

Movie: The Gambler (2014)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg - Jim Bennet
Jessica Lange - Roberta Bennet
John Goodman - Frank
Brie Larson - Amy Phillips
Anthony Kelley - Lamar
Michael Kenneth Williams - Neville Baraka
George Kennedy - Ed Bennet

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Writers: William Monahan (screenplay)
James Toback (writer)

I saw this last night on cable TV. Epix.
Spoiler alert.
Maybe I reveal too much about this movie but I want to describe the setup. So read at your own risk.

Meet Jim Bennet. By day he's an outspoken English professor who likes to pontificate his philosophical views on life to his students during his lectures. But by night he's a high stakes gambler. We see Jim tossing 20K bets (and losing them) over the black jack table without blinking an eye. He seems to be willfully determined to bury himself in debt. In debt to not just one, but three dangerous characters who are likely to extract their owed debts from him in blood, if need be.

Backing up to the opening scene. Jim is at his grandfather Ed's bedside in the hospital where the old man is about to die. The dialogue between them reveals that Ed Bennet, very wealthy, has chosen to leave Jim out of his will. No money for Jim.

The old man dies. There's a funeral.

Same night: And right after leaving the funeral, Jim heads straight to Mr. Lee's Casino where he proceeds to lose big time. And Mr. Lee has been covering Jim's losses for some time now. At the end of the evening, the amount of debt discussed is in the $260K range. Mr. Lee gives Jim 7 days to pay it off......or else. (gulp)

Mr. Lee isn't the only unscrupulous character Jim owes serious funds to. There is a gangster by the name of Neville Baraka that is holding a pretty big tab for him. And Baraka seems to be showing up quite a lot, lately.

So now the problem is where is Jim going to get the money to pay off both Mr. Lee and Neville Baraka? And it had better be soon.

Jim's first option is his wealthy Mother, played by Jessica Lange. She turns his request down, because she's already aware of his gambling problem. That leaves a rather shady loan shark by the name of Frank, played grotesquely by John Goodman. Frank turns him down, but later in the movie does come up with some short term high dollar funds for him.

Next thing, Jim's Mother makes contact to complain about some rather shady characters who seem to be casing her home. (Mr. Lee's enforcers). Finally, Jim comes clean and tells the truth about his debt to Mr. Lee and Baraka. So she comes up with $260K in cash. Leaving the bank, She tells Jim that this is it, she wants no further contact with him.

Tearfully, she turns and walks back to the limo where the chauffer awaits, holding the door open. Frank turns the other way and walks straight-faced toward his fate.

Ah, I forgot about Amy. She's in Jim's English class. And his best student. By night, unbeknownst to Jim, she has been working at Mr. Lee's Casino waiting on tables. She saw him that night, after the funeral, lose at the black jack table. Amy Phillips. She figures in.

So, anyway, there's Jim holding a bag of cash, all $260,000.00 usd of it. He's sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus, when Amy drives by in her little econobox car and offer's him a lift. So what happens next....you might ask? Well, you can guess it, but first Jim needs to go play some black jack with Mom's money. And he does while Amy watches. By the end of that day, he's lost the entire sum at black jack. Wow. This guy really wants to back himself into a financial corner. He's not only broke, but in debt to two dangerous loan holders.

About this time, Frank the loan shark offers Jim the funds he'd asked for earlier so he could pay back Baraka and Mr. Lee. Enter a third debt holder.....

Meanwhile, there's another character we need to know; Lamar, played by Anthony Kelley. Lamar is a star basketball player at the university and in Jim's English class. Athletic scholarship. Poor student, excellent basketball player, needs money, etc. The Athletic dept. constantly pressures Jim to pass him through for the sake of the team, etc.

But there are other people interested in Lamar. For instance, one gangster by the name of Neville Baraka. We already know Baraka. He wants to talk with Lamar about tossing a game or two for the points spread. He asks Jim to give him his phone number. Jim gives Baraka a wrong number. Baraka comes back later to Jim with some enforcers. They walk Jim into a vacant building, sit him down in a chair, hands tied behind his back. Then a really, really large guy smacks him with a left cross to the eye. That seems to work. Jim gives up Lamar's number to Baraka. And the fix is in.

Now, what's Jim going to do while he's backed into this corner? But I risk a spoiler, somewhat, by offering that he's got one, maybe two moves left to him. And it's time to watch some basketball.

There's more but to see how this one turns out, you'd have to see the movie. It's out on cable lately.

-Steve

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Topic - The Gambler 2014 review - user510 18:17:44 10/18/15 (0)

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