The subject matter was a little on the depressing side, seeing someone is such a fortunate position continue to throw everything away; but it was satisfying to see his redemption in the end.

I had high expectations for the film “The Gambler”. Unfortunately the film did not live up to my expectations. It has a bit of everything: action, violence, romance and a lot of dialogue but the real focus of the film is a character study of an extreme gambler.This film is not for everyone as could be felt by the muted audience reaction at theend of the film.

Good remake of the 1974 Karel Reisz movie. It still has the feeling of a James Toback reworking of a Dostoievsky's work. The dialogue is often litterate and there's a good link between the chance of genius (Shakespeare) and the chance at cards or betting,. Wahlberg looked like a possible U prof. Goodman and the other Dons were also good. Lange and Larson had too short a presence .

We thought it was good, but some of it felt contrived... Like the relationship with walberg and his student. It seemed unnecessary. Overall we enjoyed it though.