I guess I just assumed the next premiere added to this year’s AFI Festival would be Clint Eastwood‘s American Sniper, but instead its Rupert Wyatt‘s The Gambler as Paramount has more than its fair share of late season releases they are attempting to juggle, which also includes Christopher Nolan‘s Interstellar and Ava DuVernay‘s Selma, not to mention the renewed interest in Darren Aronofksy‘s Noah they attempted to drum up over the weekend. As for The Gambler, it will have its world premiere on Monday, November 10, well ahead of its limited December 19 release date before it goes wide January 2015.
The film finds Mark Wahlberg playing Jim Bennett, an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, who bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Jessica Lange) in his wake. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance.
Paramount has slow-played this one, only releasing a few pictures so far, and has still yet to release anything having to do with Selma, though I have to assume we’ll be seeing something more from both very soon. However, with the limited amount of information and/or assets it’s hard to figure out just how good any of these films will be, though anticipation is certainly high.
