Always Bet On Black

The best gambling film I’ve ever seen was the Philip Seymour Hoffman starring “Owning Mahoney” which succeeded in exploring the disease of addiction and how the toxic rush of winning big is less of a thrill than losing bigger. There is an early scene in “The Gambler” that seems to vividly capture that idea. The camera tracks associate literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) entering an exclusive and illegal Los Angeles gambling den and darting towards a blackjack table with thousands of dollars to bet at his disposal. His initial stare at the dealer is by turns both cocksure and blank, but with one winning hand after another in rapid succession Bennett becomes giddy and exhilarated by such a surge of reckless abandon. He has tapped into the gambler’s high.....a streak of winning that gets the attention of the dealer, den owner Mr Lee (Alvin Ing) and the gangster Neville (played by the wry and dangerously charming Michael K Williams (Omar from “The Wire.”) He then walks away from the table with considerable winnings and makes a choice at the roulette table that causes him to lose everything he just won within seconds. The moment is devastating yet Bennett takes the hit in stride, which is surprising since he now owes $240,000 to Mr. Lee. 

He soon approaches Neville, his mother ( Jessica Lange at her most fierce) and a seething loan shark Frank (a bald, funny and frequently topless John Goodman) to front him money to pay off his debts which ultimately leads him to put up his own life as collateral.  Matters are complicated further when Bennett becomes entangled in a romantic relationship with his student (the ever-excellent but underused Brie Larson) whose life Neville threatens to harm if Bennett doesn’t collect his considerable winnings in due time. 

How Bennett became such a risk taker in the first place is never fully explored but this Rupert Wyatt directed remake of the 1974 James Caan vehicle seems more interested in asking questions than answering them. Why is such an intelligent professor (and writer) so preoccupied with gambling and placing himself in dire straits with dangerous loan sharks and gangsters?  Why does he include his emotionally distraught mother in funding such a crippling addiction and/or con? And why does this man seem so comfortable in the face of life-threatening danger at every turn? 

Mark Wahlberg, who reportedly lost 60 pounds for the part, with his slightly gaunt frame and Dirk Diggler length hair wouldn’t have been my first choice to play a white collar narcissist and academic but he gets kudos for attacking his scenes with an articulate gusto rarely before seen. Unfortunately, Wahlberg’s inherent street tough swagger becomes increasingly problematic as the film progresses. As Bennett pits Neville, Lee and Frank against each other I never really felt like this cool a customer was in any real immediate danger which took away from the

films mounting tension. Bennett gives as good as he gets and then some and even when he gets beaten up by gangsters he never breaks down or loses it. I would have appreciated at least some flickers of doubt behind the bravado, but Bennett seems firmly in control of his fate from beginning to end much to the dismay of the people around him. 

Jessica Lange, Michael K Williams and John Goodman bite into screenwriter William Monahan’s (“The Departed”) crackling gallows humor filled dialogue like filet mignon and are each so convincing that there were times when I wanted the film to revolve around one of them. And the numerous tracking shots (by cinematographer Greig Fraser) and pulpy soundtrack also adds to the film’s LA sleek atmosphere providing the scenes with an appropriate and seedy after-hours sheen. 

In spite of the visually arresting surroundings and sterling supporting turns the character of Jim Bennett is more one-dimensional idea than flesh and blood character. As a result, this problematic lead keeps a relatively enjoyable gambling film from becoming a truly devastating character study that goes for broke.