The Gambler

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The Gambler

R

2015

1h 51m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

43%

Tomatometer

141 Reviews

31%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) 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 (John Goodman), a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.

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Critics Consensus

Well-paced and reasonably entertaining in its own right, The Gambler still suffers from comparisons to the James Caan classic that inspired it.

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

06/07/2016

'The Gambler' is just shy of a great movie - it doesn't quite add up like it should - but it is a reminder that there's a very fine actor lurking in Mark Wahlberg.

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Stephen Romei

The Australian

02/12/2015

3/5

This is a slick, fast-paced film that maintains its sometimes unbearable tension until the last roll of the dice.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

01/25/2015

2/5

Despite stylish direction by Rupert Wyatt, who pulls off a few arresting set pieces, The Gambler never manages to make sense of William Monahan's often laughably overripe screenplay.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

07/13/2022

2/4

By the end, it's difficult to care about Jim as Wahlberg represents him.

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Nick Levine

NME (New Musical Express)

05/27/2021

2.5/5

Potentially gripping, but never generates enough tension...

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Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

02/02/2021

3/5

Wants to be a philosophical look at life's big issues, using Bennett's fall from grace as a backdrop, but in the end delivers Hollywood cynicism.

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Courtland L

@RT03828895 Jul 14

Very disjointed. Lacks cohesion. Intensity lost on disorganization. Little emotional depth. Small intermittent redeeming qualities. Still, overshadowed by no character building. Hints at mysteriousness without any revelatory sequencing thereafter. 2 out of 5 stars, stars going to the cinematography and John Goodman looking like John The Hutt.

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Nicholas B

@CoolRuler Jan 3

The movie tried so hard to be smart and clever that it forgot to be interesting and entertaining.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Oct 14

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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donnie m

@RT64375194 04/28/2025

watching now-this is the FIRST and only movie i've seen where i like John Goodman-the look and the way he talks-he actually sounds the part- tough and REAL for the first time instead of his way too exaggerated accents and strange tones and exaggerations in other movies and i love The Righteous Gemstones but he talks so fake-same in The Conners which i do not watch

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Phan D

@RT66899852 01/23/2025

I took a keen interest in this movie, as someone who gambles millions a year..... I thought this movie was lame. In every blackjack scene, Mark is betting and doubling up every hand until he loses.... as much of a degenerate gambler as I have been...... even during a coked out weekend in Vegas with a 200k marker and splurging like crazy in the VIP room 1 on 1 with my own dealer... I never once bet 4 hands in a row doubling each hand. So the movie was just not realistic. Mark did it 3 times I think. His character didn't care about the hot girl....never cared to get laid?? Always had these theories and using 25 words a minute that you have to look up in the dictionary.... It's just too much of a movie.... Rounders was far more realistic.

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Ron R

@RT76285883 01/13/2025

I can't even finish this. It's about someone, or something, that just wants to destroy himself and everyone around him. I don't see the point. There's not even a motive for any of it. Just totally pointless painful obliteration.

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Rupert Wyatt

Director

Mark Wahlberg

Jim Bennett

John Goodman

Frank

Brie Larson

Amy Phillips

Michael Kenneth Williams

Neville Baraka

Jessica Lange

Roberta

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Synopsis

Literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) 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 (John Goodman), a paternalistic loan shark. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must risk everything for a second chance.

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Producer: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, David Winkler
Screenwriter: William Monahan
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Closest to the Hole, Chartoff Winkler, Leverage
Rating: R (Some Sexuality/Nudity|Language Throughout)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 2015, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 24, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $33.7M
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby Digital

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