The Gamble (1974) is a formally interesting, narrative boilerplate. Its convention detracts from what is a boldly directed film by Karel Reisz which features a commanding James Caan in the lead
Caan plays an inherently wealthy teacher of literature who appears to be in complete control of his life. He's impressive, multi-talented, and interested in intellect and culture. This makes his inability to control an obsessive gambling addiction all the more interesting and incongruous. An opening sequence shows him tossing away forty-four grand, and he spends the rest of the film gaining and losing it back.
The linings of of that story have been sewn a hundred times before, but Reisz decides to make a romantic version of a film that is usually gritty and told at a chilling pace. He chooses slow tracking shots and long two shots instead of quick cuts and close-ups. This approach results in melodrama rather than an attempt at gravely realism, which one would expect from a film about a gambling addict.
The style works about half the time; like, for instance, when Caan and his beatific lover (Lauren Hutton) abscond to Vegas for a day, immersing themselves in the rapturous aura of the casino and the intoxicating elation of an ordained winning streak. It doesn't work, however, when the luck runs dry and the script turns harsh. Confrontations between Caan and dodgy characters to whom he owes money, require that they are shot at a closer distance and at a faster pace to achieve a certain tension that is sorely missing.
Perhaps Reisz vision would've worked better had the script not relied so heavily on all of the obvious tropes of the gambler story. Ultimately, Reisz doesn't come out ahead, although he doesn't throw it all away either.
Caan plays an inherently wealthy teacher of literature who appears to be in complete control of his life. He's impressive, multi-talented, and interested in intellect and culture. This makes his inability to control an obsessive gambling addiction all the more interesting and incongruous. An opening sequence shows him tossing away forty-four grand, and he spends the rest of the film gaining and losing it back.
The linings of of that story have been sewn a hundred times before, but Reisz decides to make a romantic version of a film that is usually gritty and told at a chilling pace. He chooses slow tracking shots and long two shots instead of quick cuts and close-ups. This approach results in melodrama rather than an attempt at gravely realism, which one would expect from a film about a gambling addict.
The style works about half the time; like, for instance, when Caan and his beatific lover (Lauren Hutton) abscond to Vegas for a day, immersing themselves in the rapturous aura of the casino and the intoxicating elation of an ordained winning streak. It doesn't work, however, when the luck runs dry and the script turns harsh. Confrontations between Caan and dodgy characters to whom he owes money, require that they are shot at a closer distance and at a faster pace to achieve a certain tension that is sorely missing.
Perhaps Reisz vision would've worked better had the script not relied so heavily on all of the obvious tropes of the gambler story. Ultimately, Reisz doesn't come out ahead, although he doesn't throw it all away either.