# The Gambler (2014 film)
**The Gambler** is a 2014 American crime drama directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by William Monahan, starring [Mark Wahlberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-wahlberg) as Jim Bennett, an [English literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-literature) professor whose secret life as a high-stakes gambler draws him into debt with dangerous lenders. It is a remake of the 1974 film *The Gambler*, which was written by [James Toback](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-toback) and starred James Caan.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761) • [2](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-gambler-set-awards-season-run-december-013006054.html) The film was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, cost $25 million to make, and opened in limited release on December 10, 2014 before expanding wide on Christmas Day.[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Rupert Wyatt; screenplay by William Monahan (*The Departed*)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761) |
| Source | Remake of *The Gambler* (1974), written by James Toback and directed by Karel Reisz[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761) • [5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-gambler-film-review-mark-wahlberg-isn-t-credible-as-shakespearequoting-antihero-9996618.html) |
| Lead cast | Mark Wahlberg (Jim Bennett), Jessica Lange (Roberta), John Goodman (Frank), Brie Larson (Amy Phillips), Michael Kenneth Williams (Neville Baraka)[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/) |
| Release | Limited December 10, 2014; wide December 25, 2014; home video April 7, 2015, all by Paramount[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29) |
| Budget and box office | $25 million production budget; $33,680,992 domestic and $5,600,000 overseas gross[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/) |
| Technical details | 111 minutes, rated R; cinematography by Greig Fraser; music by Jon Brion and Theo Green[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 55 from 40 critic reviews; user score 5.5 on Metacritic[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Jim Bennett is a college literature professor who leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler, routinely losing hundreds of thousands of dollars at blackjack and roulette tables.[7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/the-gambler/31576/) Already $200,000 in debt, he borrows $60,000 from a gangster named Neville (Michael [Kenneth Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenneth-williams)), putting up his own life as collateral.[7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/the-gambler/31576/) He then blows the $260,000 his mother Roberta ([Jessica Lange](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-lange)) gives him to bail him out during a single trip to a Palm Springs casino, and draws the attention of the loan shark Frank ([John Goodman](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-goodman)) as he moves through an illicit underground world.[7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/the-gambler/31576/) His relationship with his student Amy Phillips (Brie Larson) deepens, and when she is threatened he takes the ultimate risk for a second chance.[7](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/the-gambler/31576/)
The story runs on a seven-day clock through Los Angeles's underworld, with Bennett pitting his creditor against the operator of an illicit gambling ring, Mister Lee (Alvin Ing).[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/) The film is structured non-chronologically and is classified as a crime drama with plot points of addiction, money troubles, and a loan-shar relationship.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29) [George Kennedy](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-kennedy) appears as Ed, in what turned out to be his final film performance before his death in 2016.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/) • [9](https://www.netflixmovies.com/the-gambler-2014)
## Origins and development
The 2014 film descends from a 1974 drama of the same name, scripted by James Toback and directed by Karel Reisz, which itself was adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1867 short novel.[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-gambler-film-review-mark-wahlberg-isn-t-credible-as-shakespearequoting-antihero-9996618.html) Toback based the original script on his own experiences while teaching in New York City.[2](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-gambler-set-awards-season-run-december-013006054.html)
**A long development.** Paramount began active development on the remake in 2011, with [Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-scorsese-and-leonardo-dicaprio) attached to the project.[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/) Scorsese eventually dropped out, and [Todd Phillips](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-phillips) was set to direct; both DiCaprio and Phillips then left, and the project moved forward with Mark Wahlberg starring and Rupert Wyatt, best known for 2011's *Rise of the Planet of the Apes*, as director.[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/) • [10](https://time.com/3532371/the-gambler-remake-mark-wahlberg/) Paramount launched the development with the 1974 film's original producers, [Irwin Winkler](https://www.edgepedia.org/irwin-winkler) and Robert Chartoff, joined by Stephen Levinson and David Winkler; Wahlberg also produced.[2](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-gambler-set-awards-season-run-december-013006054.html) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761)
Paramount first scheduled a limited December 19 release as an Oscar-qualifying run with a wide expansion on January 1, but scrapped that platform rollout for a wide bow on Christmas Day.[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/)
## Production and Los Angeles locations
Wyatt gave his cinematographer strict instructions about how to photograph the city: "Every time we see a palm tree, move the camera," he said, aiming to subvert people's concept of what Los Angeles looks like.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) Except for a few scenes in Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, the film was shot entirely in [Greater Los Angeles](https://www.edgepedia.org/greater-los-angeles), at about 40 locations over 40 days from January through March.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) Producers shunned soundstages and relied on practical locations in Beverly Hills, downtown L.A., Koreatown, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, and Dana Point.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) Location manager Chris Baugh, whose credits include *Argo*, *Angels & Demons*, and *Arrested Development*, sought sites that other productions would usually pass over.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) The film was one of a handful of high-profile studio movies produced in Los Angeles that year and benefited from a California film tax credit.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html)
Wahlberg dropped 60 pounds for the role, but said his biggest challenge was playing a convincing professor, since he had dropped out of high school and only recently completed his diploma online.[10](https://time.com/3532371/the-gambler-remake-mark-wahlberg/)
## Reception and box office
The film earned mixed reviews. Metacritic recorded a metascore of 55 based on 40 critic reviews, with 18 positive, 18 mixed, and 4 negative, and a user score of 5.5.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/) Critics divided over the central performance: The Guardian found Wahlberg unconvincing in a "contrived" remake transposed from New York to Los Angeles, while The Independent judged him not credible as a Shakespeare-quoting anti-hero but praised the atmosphere of Bennett's roamings from Korean-owned casinos to bath houses and Jessica Lange's "Medea-like" cameo as his loving, ruthless mother.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/22/the-gambler-review) • [5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-gambler-film-review-mark-wahlberg-isn-t-credible-as-shakespearequoting-antihero-9996618.html) RogerEbert.com's review argued the remake lacked the desperation of the original and never convinced the audience that Bennett's escape was in doubt.[12](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-gambler-2014) A more positive Hitfix review called the film "quietly confident" and praised Wyatt's storytelling intelligence.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/)
**Box office.** Against its $25 million budget, the film grossed $33,680,992 domestically and $5,600,000 overseas.[3](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/) The Los Angeles Times reported nearly $16 million grossed since the Christmas Day opening as of the end of December 2014.[8](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html) The film later reached home video on April 7, 2015, and streams in the United States on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Essential, among other services.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29) • [13](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-gambler-2014)
## References
1. [The Gambler (2014), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/70761)
2. [Mark Wahlberg's 'The Gambler' Set for Awards-Season Run with December Release, Variety via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-gambler-set-awards-season-run-december-013006054.html)
3. [The Gambler (2014), Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2014-2/the-gambler/)
4. [The Gambler (2014) - Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Gambler-The-%282014%29)
5. [The Gambler, film review, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-gambler-film-review-mark-wahlberg-isn-t-credible-as-shakespearequoting-antihero-9996618.html)
6. [The Gambler Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gambler/)
7. [The Gambler (2014) - Movie Plot and Synopsis, Tribute Movies](https://www.tributemovies.com/movie/the-gambler/31576/)
8. [For 'The Gambler,' filmmaker sought a less familiar side of L.A., Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-onlocation-gambler-filming-los-angeles-20141231-story.html)
9. [The Gambler (2014) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/the-gambler-2014)
10. [Watch the Trailer for The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg, TIME](https://time.com/3532371/the-gambler-remake-mark-wahlberg/)
11. [The Gambler review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/22/the-gambler-review)
12. [The Gambler movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-gambler-2014)
13. [The Gambler streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-gambler-2014)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2010–2014 films › Titles symbols to L*
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