verbusen Review of The Gambler

The Gambler (1974)

If You Have a Gambling Problem Call 1-888-Admit-It, He Should Have Called

[6/10 · 11 March 2022]

I watched this on Xfinity Screenpix because I set my DVR to record anything James Woods was in. I'm also a James Caan fan so I was interested in it. James Woods has a very small role and he is so young that I had to do a double take to make sure it was him. The issue I have with the film is I knew early enough where it was going, all downhill. I knew this because I probably suffer from a similar type of self destructiveness. Unlike Caan's character though, I am smart enough to understand it and TRY to change my bad habits. I perfectly understood the ending but my wife who watched it with me was left scratching her head. I explained it to her and she wasn't impressed. I had started to FF it 2/3 of the way in to spare me more angst because that's the only way Caan's character was going and I knew it. Having grown up in NYC in the 70s, the film was a perfect example of a 1970s urban drama and its reminiscent to me of the decade as a whole, dark. The same year this was released there was another famous gambling film, California Split (George Segal, Elliot Gould). While The Gambler is considered better by most of the critics, I preferred California Split (an 8 or 9 in my book) because its a lot less predictable, mixes in some comedy and has more interesting characters. While both films exaggerate winning by gambling, I'm not buying that Caan keeps winning when he does, like doubling down on an 18 hand in black jack. I think they threw in some brief nudity at the end to make it R rated. If you are looking for a hard edge depressing film to watch you will rate The Gambler higher then I did, but for me, I rate it 6 out of 10.