The Gambler (15)
three stars
Dir: Rupert Wyatt
With: Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange
Runtime: 111 minutes
HOW much of a punt would you take on this Mark Wahlberg drama being better than the 1974 James Caan version? Not much? Your money is safe, then, but you still might want to have a flutter given the quality of the performances and writing. There are a few changes to the story, but the central character, a literature lecturer by day, gambler by night, remains the same. Wahlberg makes a less convincing lover of Dostoevsky than Caan did, but in every other respect he is on the money as a man who can find no bigger thrill than losing everything. Wyatt builds the story into a sort of Leaving Las Vegas with playing cards, allowing Wahlberg to sink ever deeper into a long dark night of soul searching, while Jessica Lange has a small but impressive role to play as the disappointed mother, with Brie Larson notable as the student out to save a lost sheep. Impressive performances all round, with a nicely gabby screenplay by William Monahan (The Departed).
Beyond Clueless (15)
three stars
Dir: Charlie Lyne
Runtime: 89 minutes
CHARLIE Lyne's documentary about teen movies functions in part like a sort of Before They Were Famous, with James Marsden, Robert Pattinson, Lindsay Lohan, James Franco, Katie Holmes, and even Jon Stewart turning up to show the ones they made earlier. Dividing his film into segments dealing with such themes as fitting in, losing oneself, and moving on, Lyne deftly weaves clips from more than 200 films to make his point that American teen movies are the way that millions come of age in the cinema. While Lyne is not quite up there - yet - with the likes of Slavoj Zizek when it comes to film theory, he has a great eye and a sharp mind. For those who wish to refresh their memory of the 1995 teen comedy classic which functioned as the inspiration for Lyne's film, the Glasgow Film Theatre is having a late night screening of Clueless tomorrow [FRIDAY].
Cameo, Edinburgh, tonight [THURSDAY], 10.30pm plus Q&A with director, then January 27; GFT, tomorrow-January 29, with Q&A on January 29.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article