Inspired by writer James Toback’s gambling addiction, The Gambler is a semi-autobiographical halfway written novel turned to his first produced screenplay, a 70s take on Dostoevskyan fate. Directed by Karel Reisz, this gritty 1974 crime drama film is mainly a character study starring James Caan, Paul Sorvino and Lauren Hutton. Even though the role of the protagonist was almost attached to Robert De Niro, Caan, who was at the time suffering from another kind of addiction - that of cocaine - was widely praised for his performance as Axel Freed, an English professor and a lost soul swimming in debt latching on to everybody close to him - his family, girlfriend and even his students. Powered by excitement, his stubbornness brings him to the brink of disaster and he has to choose whether to keep on risking it or to finally stop.
There are two worlds opposed in The Gambler: that of everyday life and the one revolving around New York underworld filled with suspicious characters such as loan sharks and pimps. This story sparked interest in 2011 when there were talks of Scorsese directing the remake and again in 2013 when Rupert Wyatt decided to direct a remake with Mark Wahlberg in the main role. The film was released in 2014 but based on this Rotten Tomatoes review it is very clear where the viewers’ loyalty lies: “Well-paced and reasonably entertaining in its own right, The Gambler still suffers from comparisons to the James Caan classic that inspired it.”
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