The Gambler
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
18
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 26, 2015
Wahlberg finds his most interesting role since The Departed in a film that’s heavy on atmosphere and suspense but shy of a full deck when it comes to characterisation. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerJan 19, 2015
A rare grown up thriller, full of interesting bits and a strong turn from Wahlberg. But as a whole Wyatt’s film doesn’t grip as it might. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 23, 2014
Some fragments of that Dostoevskian romance linger on here: Just enough so that Wyatt and Wahlberg nail the climactic scene, when Jim is literally playing for his life, and make it momentarily seem to mean something. But not quite enough that you’ll remember what that something might be the next day. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 23, 2014
This version’s shadowy Las Vegas underworld and convenient adoring female coed (Brie Larson, who deserves better) play like clichés. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 22, 2014
Understatement is one of Mark Wahlberg’s greatest assets. But that admirable trait winds up working against him in The Gambler, Rupert Wyatt’s otherwise intriguing dramatic thriller. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 23, 2014
Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) doesn't match the feverish nature of Karel Reisz's original, and the gambling sequences convey the sameness of a habit but not as much tension to it. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 30, 2014
Wyatt keeps the action coming at a fast clip, but watching Jim repeatedly pursue a path of self-destruction for reasons never made clear grows wearying. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonDec 27, 2014
The Gambler should have been called “Three Supporting Characters in Search of a Lead.” A gaunt Mark Wahlberg stares out from the poster, his name is above the title, and he’s in almost every frame of this remake, but his character may as well be non-existent. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 24, 2014
Mr. Wyatt’s direction is smooth, although he’s more confident, and the movie more convincing, when he goes for baroque with the story’s excesses. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenDec 24, 2014
Wyatt, Monahan and Wahlberg never seem quite settled on what they want to say with the character or the story, so the film feels marked not by ambiguity but uncertainty. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 23, 2014
Full of post-hippie fatalism and cynical macho barroom existentialism, the original film feels very much of its era, and the remake anachronistic. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneDec 21, 2014
The filmmakers delve into a fantasyland of luxe coastal casinos and neon-lit bathhouses--as shrug-worthy a stab at picturing the contemporary black market as could be requested. Read full review
50
The PlaylistCharlie SchmidlinNov 11, 2014
A genre exercise such as this needs invention, and while Wyatt trots out a slick stamp on proceedings with a game cast, his version never works up steam enough to render the effort worthwhile. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin ChangNov 11, 2014
A movie of slick, surface-level pleasures that’s unpersuasive at its core. Read full review
43
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNov 11, 2014
A cover version is pretty much what this do-over of The Gambler represents, with the rougher edges mixed out and sweetened. It's no mystery why actors and directors want to relive the magic of American studio movies from the fabled 1970s, but if you're not going to take the risks that the originals did, or illuminate as much about the characters, why redo them at all? Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyDec 17, 2014
The one bit of good news is that the first Gambler is currently streaming on Netflix. Do yourself a favor and watch that one instead. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 29, 2015
It bombards you with overwritten monologues and try-hard music cues in an attempt to drown out its dramatic shortcomings. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghDec 24, 2014
You can't get close to Bennett — not because he's a morally ambiguous character, as the movie would have you believe, but because he never puts anything on the table. He struts through every consequence, a man with nothing to lose because he never had anything worth losing in the first place. Read full review
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