This is a tough movie to wrap your head around. Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is a literature professor by day and inveterate gambler the rest of the time. The only inkling we have why he gambles uncontrollably relates to a fatherless past and an inability to cash in on a skill that would put him in the stratosphere of money earners that only sheer talent can command. Wahlberg never imbues his character with any qualities that would make him likable, which makes it a mystery why student Amy Phillips (Brie Larson) takes a liking to him. If you think about it, Professor Bennett never once offered evidence of why he believed Miss Phillips was a dynamic writer, he only said so in class during his diatribe on how much he hated his job. For her part, she might have felt it so intuitively, but because Bennett seemed to be blowing smoke most of the time to his students, how would she ever know to take him seriously?
I have to say, in addition to the unlikable characters, some of the principal players looked physically as bad as I've ever seen them. Wahlberg, who lost sixty one pounds for his role, looked emaciated and weary, perhaps a function of the life style his character was living, but I thought he looked terrible. Jessica Lange, who portrayed his mother, looked like her face was made of plastic, and I'm sorry if that offends anyone but she didn't look like a real person. And what can one say about the shirtless John Goodman? If a Star Wars chapter ever needed a repeat appearance from Jabba the Hutt, Goodman looked like he could nail the part.
Story wise, not a lot of credibility on the part of Bennett's backers. After 'only' fifty grand in the hole, I couldn't imagine anyone fronting the cash Bennett was asking for to continue his losing spree. It all worked out of course, and one would have to assume he himself was the other unknown gambler who bet the house on the basketball game. There's a lot of reading between the lines in the picture's resolution to make this a Cinderella story, and a lot of question marks one would have following the end credits.
I have to say, in addition to the unlikable characters, some of the principal players looked physically as bad as I've ever seen them. Wahlberg, who lost sixty one pounds for his role, looked emaciated and weary, perhaps a function of the life style his character was living, but I thought he looked terrible. Jessica Lange, who portrayed his mother, looked like her face was made of plastic, and I'm sorry if that offends anyone but she didn't look like a real person. And what can one say about the shirtless John Goodman? If a Star Wars chapter ever needed a repeat appearance from Jabba the Hutt, Goodman looked like he could nail the part.
Story wise, not a lot of credibility on the part of Bennett's backers. After 'only' fifty grand in the hole, I couldn't imagine anyone fronting the cash Bennett was asking for to continue his losing spree. It all worked out of course, and one would have to assume he himself was the other unknown gambler who bet the house on the basketball game. There's a lot of reading between the lines in the picture's resolution to make this a Cinderella story, and a lot of question marks one would have following the end credits.