Despite Adam Sandler's tour de force, nothing about the degenerate, lying, manic, and utterly irredeemable gambling addict he plays makes you care about the character enough to invest your feelings in his fate. Unlike James Caan in The Gambler and Harvey Keitel in The Bad Lieutenant, Adam Sandler's character Howard Ratner is not the least bit introspective or repentant. Therefore, when his inevitable downfall comes, there is no meaningful catharsis or poignant tragedy. I also found the constant thumping of the cheesy musical score detracted from the film.