Gambler
Mark Wahlberg dropped sixty-one pounds for his role, going from one hundred ninety-eight pounds to one hundred thirty-seven pounds, by doing a diet consisting of mostly liquid food and vegetables, and a workout of strictly cardio. Wahlberg claimed that he deliberately set one hundred thirty-seven pounds as his goal, because the thinnest he had ever been for a role previously was Boogie Nights (1997), in which he played a teenager, and weighed one hundred thirty-eight pounds.,Early in the movie when Jim is at the blackjack table and wins an $80,000 bet with a natural 21, rather than being paid the correct amount which should have been $120,000, he is paid incorrectly as he receives 16 of the blue/white chips adding up to $160,000.,Jim Bennett: I've been up two and a half million dollars.
Frank: What you got on you?
Jim Bennett: Nothing.
Frank: What you put away?
Jim Bennett: Nothing.
Frank: You get up two and a half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do: you get a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible Jap-economy shitbox, you put the rest into the system at three to five percent to pay your taxes and that's your base, get me? That's your fortress of fucking solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of fuck you. Somebody wants you to do something, fuck you. Boss pisses you off, fuck you! Own your house. Have a couple bucks in the bank. Don't drink. That's all I have to say to anybody on any social level. Did your grandfather take risks?
Jim Bennett: Yes.,During the opening titles, as the classic Paramount logo appears onscreen, we hear the sound of a roulette as the stars are aligning over the Paramount mountain.,Featured in Film '72: Episode dated 12 November 2014 (2014),That Glow
Written by Paul Janeway & Jesse Phillips
Performed by St. Paul & the Broken Bones
Courtesy of St. Paul and the Broken Bones,Despite being tedious and annoyingly creating its own problems, The Gambler is still a really good drama that manages to come to a very satisfying conclusion. Mark Wahlberg is great. Brie Larson, John Goodman and Michael K. Williams all give really good supporting performances. Rupert Wyatt's direction is also really good. The soundtrack is excellent and the music by Theo Green and Jon Brion is good.,