The Gambler

Star Mark Wahlberg is firmly in his element here playing a disgruntled professor from a rich family who appears dead set on becoming a chalk outline due to his incessant addiction to high stakes gambling. Watching his epic flame outs may be too painful for some viewers, yet it's a toss up which they'll find more cringe-worthy, his brutal defeats, or most of William Monahan's stilted dialogue, which calls attention to itself at every turn and not in a good way like David Mamet's would. Thankfully acting heavyweights like Jessica Lange as the family matriarch and John Goodman as a shady bookie make the most out of what they've been given, but it really isn't much. Even with a thrilling conclusion that includes perhaps the most bad-ass, balls to the wall bet I've ever seen on film, a mediocre experience the majority of the way.