Release Date: 23rd January The Talent: Rupert Wyatt (Director); Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael K. Williams, Jessica Lange The Story: Literature professor and gambler Jim Bennett's debt causes him to borrow money from his mother and a loan shark. Further complicating the situation is his burgeoning relationship with one of his students. Will he risk his life for a second chance? Why You Should Be Excited: When Mark Wahlberg picks his parts wisely and carefully, he is capable of delivering excellent performances in high quality films (Lone Survivor and Ted being two recent examples). The trailer would certainly lead us to believe that The Gambler will fall on the good side of the Wahlberg line, and not end up nestling next to atrocities like Transformers: Age Of Extinction, the less said of which the better. The Gambler's director Rupert Wyatt should also pique interest. After his sterling work rebooting The Planet Of The Apes franchise in 2011, he suffered the dreaded 'creative differences' with 20th Century Fox over the direction of the sequel, and ended up jumping ship to direct this film. Wyatt has already proven he is a director of tremendous promise, so it will be fascinating to see if this film continues his ascent up the Hollywood ladder.
