Director: Rupert Wyatt
Screenwriter: William Monahan
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman and Brie Larson
Release Date: 25th December 2014

Hollywood movies have long been obsessed with the charged and risky atmosphere of the casino. Even with the rise of online gambling, with many now making their high-stake plays from the privacy of their own homes, Hollywood still cannot get enough of the duality of sin and luxury offered by the casino setting. Therefore, in honour of Hollywood’s continued affair with glittering chandeliers, seedy dealings and shuffling cards, we’ve taken a look at the star-studded remake of The Gambler.

The original movie, released in 1974, was an equally slick and melancholic drama which, although later gaining cult-status, found little appreciation upon its original release. The Gambler was directed by Karel Reisz, who is best known for directing Meryl Streep’s Oscar-nominated performance in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and written by James Toback, who based the narrative loosely off his own experiences. The film focuses on Harvard-educated professor Axel Freed, who is both an inspiration to his students and beloved by his family and friends. However, Axel – played with the perfect mixture of charisma and pathos by James Caan – has a secret; a potent gambling addiction that is quickly spiralling out of control.

The film looks at the excitement of the gambling industry and the highs and lows involved but also fearlessly chronicles Axel’s descent into debt, criminality and moral-decay. As his money troubles rise, Axel goes to greater and greater lengths to survive, if solely to continue feeding his addiction. He bribes a student to fix a basketball game, in order to appease a loan-shark who has placed a bet, and beats a pimp almost to death. Caan expertly handles this complex role, earning himself a Golden-Globe nomination, making Axel a captivating character who invokes pity and disgust in equal measure. Moreover, the film’s final shot is a tour-de-force in nihilism, so unflinching it captures Axel’s fall.

The remake, which premiered at the AFI Fest in November, stars Mark Wahlberg and is directed by Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes director Rupert Wyatt. Whilst Wahlberg is not well known for his dramatic and complex roles, he has demonstrated enough skill through past performances – particularly in The Fighter and The Departed – to show that he is capable of the nuances required for the role. Rounding out the remake’s cast is John Goodman, continuing his renaissance as an off-beat supporting player, and Jessica Lange, fresh from another scenery-chewing performance in American Horror Story.

Whilst the film was originally slated to be directed by Martin Scorsese, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star, the finalised duo of Wahlberg and Wyatt is not as much of a step down as some would claim. Wyatt has shown considerable skill in adapting prior cinematic work.

His 2011 reboot of the Planet of the Apes series was able to deftly integrate the essence of the original whilst updating the source material with a contemporary sheen. Moreover, Wyatt’s visual flair and ability to create nicely framed and potent imagery will lend itself well to the symbolic and moody nature of the original.

Marshall and Courtney: game on…? “Yeah, that makes sense,” says Tara. “On Opposite Day!” The relationship is clearly doomed. The big question, therefore, is how long until the doom begins to kick in. Surely Courtney’s hopes aren’t but so high when it comes to the duration of her pairing-off with Marshall. It seems pretty clear that she’s a horny teenager…yeah, I know, like every teenager isn’t horny…who’s going after a cute and clearly gay guy because he’s arguably the least intimidating person at the school who’s likely to give her a chance at having sex. “Dogs in a bathtub“? Shit, I’m 39 years old, and this is the first I’ve ever heard of that phrase. There’s something very weird about watching the characters trying to get each other off while backstage at a Shakespearean production – though, of course, everyone knows that’s where all the action is – but the sexuality of the moment is defused by the humor of the moment. Between Courtney’s excitement that she’s good at giving handjobs and Marshall’s uncertainty about whether he’s “getting warm” (not to mention Courtney taking a moment of thought to consider if he was close or not), it was probably my favorite scene of the episode because you could very easily imagine it taking place in the real world.

This was an educational episode all around: I also never knew that straight women go gay because of menopause. The scene between Jackie, Charmaine, and Neighbor Ted in the bathroom was pretty funny, particularly Ted’s assertion on determining one’s sexuality (“You’ve got to get up in it!”), as was watching Jackie try to turn herself into Buck without actually transitioning, although it obviously became a far more serious scene in the end, with Pammy sobbing on Tara’s shoulder about how she never gets the guy. Was I the only one who was completely blindsided by Pammy’s decision to hijack the P.A. system and declare her undying love for both Buck and Tara? Also, I haven’t been ice skating in years, but is it really possible that the music they play at the rink hasn’t changed in two and a half decades, or is this just wishful thinking on Diablo Cody’s part?

So Linda’s check bounced. What a shock. She wouldn’t have been on the collection agency’s hot list if she was the kind of person who’d just stroke a check every time someone came looking for payment. I don’t know that there’s any more to the character of Ricky the Trustifarian than a great name and a source for weed, but, seriously, the name is awesome. It’s a strange relationship developing between the two of them, a kindred-spirits sort of thing…or is it more? Either way, it was totally worth it to see Kate in the Princess Valhalla outfit.

Patton Oswalt’s back! I loved Max’s assurance that, even with Charmaine kicking him to the curb, there are still lots of lovely ladies on eHarmony.com just waiting for a shot at him. It was pretty tragic to see his face when he realized that she was engaged, but it still didn’t tarnish that incredibly funny groan he offered up to get her attention when she first walked in. The fact that Charmaine could barely be bothered to stop ogling her ring and considering an upgrade long enough to feel bad about how she’d made Neil feel…man, that just felt cruel. I say again: she’s totally going to fuck things up long before the wedding day arrives.

So Pammy’s declared her love before God, country, and the patrons of the Paul Bunyan Skating Rink, Max is so pissed off that he’s kicking the living shit out of Sully outside his kid’s birthday party (and, to be fair, it’s a well-deserved shit-kicking), and as soon as we got the shot of Tara not knowing whether to go into the “Ladies” or “Gentlemen” restroom, I knew we’d be seeing Buck within moments. I guess we’re shaping up for next week to find Buck crashing with Pammy, Max hanging loose in the old Hubbard house, and the kids fending for themselves. Good times.

Random moments of bliss:

* Kate’s suggestion for a new organization: Adult Children of Moms You’d Like To Fuck.

* Charmaine’s delivery of the line, “Her name was Gretchen, and she was very proud of her vagina.”

* The shot which established that Tara and Bartender Babe had been to Fun World together…and if you saw the episode, then you know that’s not some sort of euphemism.

* Marshall’s soon-to-be-reversed declaration that “I’m not into weed; it makes me like action movies.”

It’s so hard to maintain excitement for Charmaine, given Tara’s history of fucking up everything in the lives of her family, but her enthusiasm is so freaking infectious. Still, the idea of Charmaine staying at Casa de Gregson is clearly going to make for some rough going particularly given that Tara can’t even remember what lies she’s spinning about her past whereabouts. Also, in Charmaine’s hesitation to believe that she’s actually found a good man who truly loves her, she offered up a comment that struck me as possibly relating to Tara’s condition: “We were raised to believe we should eat dog shit, so you get used to dog shit.” This is presumably a metaphor rather than a description of their actual childhood, but it strikes me as telling. It may, however, not have anything to do with Tara at all. It may just mean that Charmaine’s so used to expecting the worst from her relationships that she’ll end up sabotaging this one because she can’t believe she’s good enough for it…and I thought that before she started obsessing over the engagement ring to an unhealthy degree.

As the father of a daughter, I couldn’t believe Max’s remarkably muted reaction to Kate’s work attire – specifically, the length of the skirt – but when you consider how much he’s seen in his time with Tara, I guess it’s hard to shock him anymore. Plus, why discourage her from being excited about going to work, right? Man, I am having way too many flashbacks to my time as an employee of Portfolio Recovery Associates with this debt-collection storyline. To my knowledge, no one that I worked with ever attempted the crapshoot of an in-person collection, but it certainly paid off for Kate, and you have to respect her ballsiness. Like her, I too am intrigued by Lynda P. Frazier – played by Viola Davis, late of “Law & Order: SVU” – and can’t wait to see where this will lead.

Marshall, meanwhile, continues to hang with the gang from the Fruit Bowl, who are trying to figure out a name for their student organization that’ll also give them a snappy acronym. I’d ask if the term “frienema” existed prior to this episode or not, but I don’t think I really want to know. (The groans and grimaces that accompanied the definition of the word were totally warranted. Definitely a TMI moment.) Even though we know he’s prone to succumbing to peer pressure, I’m glad to see Marshall being comfortable enough to join the organization while still continuing to offer up opinions that don’t mesh with those of Gay Power Guy…sorry, I mean Lionel. Seriously, though, I’ve got plenty of gay friends, but after two episodes of watching Lionel in action, the words that came out of Marshall’s mouth could well have been mine: “You ruin it for gay people, Lionel. I mean, you do. You ruin it. You make being gay something no one would ever want to be.” Fair enough, maybe that’s why Marshall found himself succumbing to the charms of his classmate Courtney (Zosia Mamet). I’ve always said that Ouija boards were nothing but trouble…

Back into the Hubbard house we go, this time for a moving rendition of Air Supply’s “All Out of Love.” Remember the comment I made last week about how Max didn’t seem to notice the signs that Tara was clearly affected by this suicide? I’m going to backpedal on that, mostly because this scene served to convince me that his brain is tuned to a station where the format is all Max, all the time, most likely as a defense mechanism to deal with everything going on around him. (I did notice, though, that he glanced at Tara when the realtor made her “crazy people” remark.) It makes me wonder if this’ll result in Tara admitting to the return of the alters sooner than later. I’m a little surprised that Max unabashedly bid on the house with Tara standing right there, without even allowing her the opportunity to discuss it, but he probably figures that, for all he’s put up with, he’s got a little bit of wiggle room in the relationship. Unfortunately, it looks like he’s just going to dive headlong into the restoration process like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand.

Well, that certainly was an awkward grocery store encounter with Bartender Babe, wasn’t it? I thought it was interesting that Tara pointedly avoided explaining any part of her situation, even though it certainly would’ve been easy enough to just say “I’m married” and be done with it. Perhaps that’s the result of an internal tug from Buck…? Speaking of that guy, I thought the effect of having him trail Tara up the steps was uber-creepy, and the music cue was invaluable as well. Earlier in the episode, when Tara went into the closet at the Hubbard house, I thought sure someone else was going to come out, but, no, that didn’t happen ’til after the dinner scene. It was more than worth the wait, however. (“Oh, baby,” indeed.) Ah, and there’s the waking realization we were missing earlier, now with the added bonus of getting to meet Pammy’s kiddies. Awesome! I was surprised, by the way, when Pammy admitted to Tara that she’d never been with a woman prior to their, uh, coming together the previous evening, but there’s a first time for everything, I suppose.

In closing, I’d just like to say that, if I hadn’t restrained myself, the title of this blog would’ve been “Your Fucking Face is the Fucking Gay Size.” Failing that, it would’ve been “Ballsac!” Anyone want to bet on how long it’ll be ’til CafePress.com starts stocking shirts with either of those phrases on them? I mean, hell, you can already buy thongs that say, “I’m a T!”

Now, I’m not saying that the publicity department at Showtime read my review, but whether they did or didn’t, screener discs for the second season of “Tara” arrived in my mailbox last week…and since they’re here, thereby giving me the chance to watch and write about the episodes in advance of their air date, it’s too tempting an opportunity to resist. As such, I’m blogging about “United States of Tara: Season 2.”

So let’s get started, then, shall we?

When we first return to the lives of the Gregson family, we learn that Tara (Toni Collette) has been living a solitary existence for the past three months…which, in her case, means that her husband Max (John Corbett) and her kids Kate (Brie Larson) and Marshall (Nathan Cordrry) have had their mother all to themselves, with no visitations from any of the various alters. In fact, Tara’s so confident that they’re gone for good that, when we first see her, she’s in the midst of a family outing to the local thrift store drop-off, where they’re collectively dumping the wardrobes of Alice (the ’50s housewife), T (the horny teenager) and Buck (the loutish Vietnam vet). Clearly, any viewer who truly believes that this is the last we’ll see of the trio, not to mention the enigmatic and animalistic fourth alter, may be suffering from their own mental disorder, but fair enough, we’ll go along with it if only to discover the path that leads to their return, especially since the soundtrack to that stroll kicks off with the Zombies’ “Care of Cell 44.” Plus, things are set up as going so darned swimmingly for the family – Tara’s taking her meds and is back to some semblance of normalcy, her sister Charmaine (Rosemarie Dewitt) seems to be in a good relationship for a change, Max is doing well at work, Kate’s got her diploma, and Marshall’s as close to happy as he gets – that you know that, when the fall finally does come, it’s reeeeeeeally going to hurt.

It all starts with a gunshot. Turns out that one of the Gregson’s neighbors, Mr. Hubbard, has committed suicide, a fact in which Tara takes a strange sense of pride: “Guess what? The lady with all of the multiple personalities is not the most fucked-up person on the block.” (“You are now,” Kate observes dryly.) If nothing else, however, it results in the opportunity to meet Ted and Hany, who freely acknowledge that they’re known as the gay neighbors on the block, a self-description which may or may not have anything to do with their being invited over to the Gregsons’ house for dinner. The meal itself proves to be a success for the most part, even if it does find Ted telling one of the most depressing anecdotes ever (the punchline: “Teddy, you’re a disgrace”), but things grow disconcertingly dark with the post-dinner conversation, with Tara becoming noticeably fascinated by the discussion of Mr. Hubbard’s suicide. In his defense, Max notices the situation and does his best to try and change the topic by suggesting various incredibly unexciting games that the group could play, but the damage has already been done.

Marshall finds himself invited to sit in “The Fruit Bowl,” a.k.a. the gay table at school, where he seems momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer gayness of his lunch companions, but it’s an interesting moment when he tries to maintain a “love is love is love” mentality and finds it countered with an argument about how the government disagrees with that mindset. Later, we’re witness to Marshall’s new pal storming through a discussion where he’s trying to secure more gay rights for the school and is met with a mixture of indifference and annoyance, along with what is basically a suggestion to try being more of a kid and less of a gay rights activist. Instead of what I’d hoped would happen, which was Marshall trying to take a stand and show that, yes, love is love really is love, he succumbs to gay peer pressure…which, granted, probably is what would happen in a high school scenario like this one, but it still doesn’t mean that I’m not disappointed. Kate, meanwhile, is looking into a job with Federal Surveillance and Retrieval, desperately trying to select the most spy-like attire in her wardrobe, but it turns out to be a collections agency. As someone who’s worked for such an organization, I can assure you that it’s a far cry from glamorous, but if you can turn off your moral compass for the duration of a phone call, it can indeed prove financially lucrative. Unsurprisingly, Kate finds herself drawn into this career almost instantly. And Charmaine…? She’s engaged.

Oh, yeah. This is all going to collapse around them. There’s no way they can stay happy for an extended period of time, especially not now that Buck has reemerged from hibernation. And, say, do I sense sparks between Buck and his new waitress friend…? Fingers crossed!

Random things I liked:

* The running joke about how, no matter what Tara does, it generally results in someone wondering if they’re seeing one of her alters, such as when she dances during the dinner party. “No, unfortunately, that’s just her,” Charmaine tells her boyfriend, with a sigh.

* When the waitress at the local watering hole flirts with Max as she asks him if he wants another beer, Tara announces – without being asked – that she doesn’t need another one quite yet. “I’m on anti-psychotics,” she explains, “so I’m taking it slow.”

* Am I the only one who was glad to see Joey Lauren Adams? She just hasn’t been getting enough work lately, but perhaps this role – which would appear to hark back to one of her most famous (in “Chasing Amy”) – will find her starting to get regular gigs again.

One thing I definitely didn’t like, though, was the fact that, beyond the post-dinner stuff, Max didn’t seem to notice the signs that Tara was clearly affected by this suicide. Max and Tara have been together for years and he knows her issues. Clearly, he should be on their guard at all times for telltale signs that she might be slipping back into old patterns, and even after going several months without any visitations from the alters, it just doesn’t ring true to me that he wouldn’t be watching for them at all times in order to prevent them from finding an escape route out of Tara’s subconscious. But, then, that’s where I guess you have to maintain your suspension of disbelief. Let’s hope I have mine fully charged, in case I have to fall back on it throughout the season.