The Gambler (1974) User Reviews

Am I the only one who understands the underlying theme?

[Mpup54 · 8/10 · 8 September 2009]

Just about everyone who has posted a reply about the shocking ending was simply left too much in the dark to realize that it tied together a different root demise of Axel Freed than gambling.

Just as a compulsive behavior leads to compulsive gambling, the root evil of Axel Freed was that he had a masochist behavior. When you look a little closer at all the scenes where he acts out this kind of behavior, it makes more sense. The problem lies in that the casual observer is only looking at the problem gambling aspect. There is more to this guy than just that.

The ways he handles his relationships with his mother, girlfriend, grandfather and feelings at the end towards the basketball player ALL indicate there is masochist behavior involved. These are more than just selfish acts. There is some actual self hatred going on as well. Without giving away the final scene, this scene further accentuates the point by sending himself into that situation. The final scene was a conscious act, not something resulting from random chance or risk.

So despite the movie having some gambling theme to it, this really wasn't necessarily about gambling addiction. It was about the nature of Axel Freed. If the movie had no gambling scenes in it at all this point would be more readily identifiable.

The only real oddity in the final scene is the placement of the final scene. If this scene was placed somewhere in the middle of the movie, the underlying theme of his masochist pattern of behavior would have been more easily identified with. Because the movie started with a gambling scene, we all assumed it was just about gambling. Wrong!

Its a tricky concept to catch the first time. Watch this movie again with this concept in mind and the movie will make more sense.

There are no happy endings in This world.

[davisk957 · 8/10 · 20 December 2008]

Those viewers who wished a happy ending (and that's what they're really saying when they find the movie's ending scene weak/disquieting/unfulfilling/whatever) don't really understand the nature of degenerate gambling.

And that's what this man is. Let's (as all gamblers do) put some %'s to it: arbitrarily I'll say 95% of habitual bettors play for the kick, the high, the thrill of the unknown outcome -- sports betting, casino betting, the turn of a card, they're all the same. Their motto of life might be, "If it moves, bet on it; if it doesn't, eat it." It isn't the win that's satisfying to them, or the money won -- because, you see, there's always the next game to get down on. Both a win or a loss is quickly forgotten, adjusted to, and forgotten. The next play is the only important one. Yet, to some extent or another, they keep it manageable, within the scope of their lives.

Then there are the other 5% -- the really degenerate gamblers. Now to these guys (never heard of a female degenerate gambler, did you?) it's NOT the action they crave. It's the LOSS. Make sense? Of course not, because you're probably reading this as a rational human being, and self-destruction is hard to get inside of.

But that's what this story is all about -- one of the 5%'ers.

To an experienced sports bettor, the scenes like the indelibly memorable tub scene are all too powerfully true. How a win turns to a loss in the last second happens all too often. And how COULD those 3 college hoops games all go south, when they all had big leads at the half?? But examine two key turning points in the story: for dramatic impact, the writer imbues the protagonist with somewhat unlikely powers of recovery -- the Vegas comeback is the stuff of dreams, and the fix on the NYU game, keeping it under 7 points when all was lost with a minute to go -- those contrivances were needed to show the magnitude of this guy's disease. Had he been just a steady loser, he couldn't rise to the heights necessary to fall so far. Not once, but twice, he made a full recovery from the debts he owed. Yet he couldn't learn from it -- hell, he couldn't even take one night to sleep in peace.

No, his desire for self-destruction had to be played out as it was, in a lurid hell far worse than casinos or calling the book again. He needed the self-degradation that only a Harlem pimp-fight could give him.

I found the ending fitting, un-sentimentalized, and perfect for this unblinking portrait of a man who couldn't be satisfied until he'd thoroughly debased himself.

Substitute a down-and-out drunk for the gambling addiction, and the story's been told many times. This should be assigned viewing in every GA meeting.

A Forgotten Mainstream Character-Study or Neglected Cult Film?

[TheFearmakers · 6/10 · 10 May 2020]

In pop culture, before you had to "know when to walk away, know when to run," THE GAMBLER was synonymous with a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel and transcended into this 1970's film written by James Toback, directed by Karel Reisz and starring James Caan as university professor Axel Freed...

But Axel's real story isn't his job, but his vice, practically a religion: that of gutsy yet brainless gambling...

An addiction making him the user/loser of other people's money, including his own mother (more of a flirtatious step sister). But, while it's great seeing Caan facing the dark side of human nature, there's a lot to be desired when, for instance, he gets in over his head... and then some...

Shady characters come and go and sometimes return, ranging from Burt Young to Paul Sorvino, but their threats aren't all that... threatening. And while each performance is fitfully capable, it's as if the bookies, along with the audience, are passive observers to Axel's reckless and often ridiculous impulses.

Scenes with an extremely patient girlfriend/ingenue Lauren Hutton are overlong and distracting; her part feels tacked-on, mostly. And inside the classroom, as lecturer, Caan doesn't seem completely legit; he pulls off the roguish gambling addict better than a member of such a prestigious academia (plus he's an author), looking more like a tough guy football coach doubling as teacher...

Meanwhile, sporadic and strategic illegal backroom gambling sequences (filled with mafioso-looking inhabitants) lack the kind of severely desperate tension that these grungy locations aesthetically promise...

With so much to lose in each hand or roll of the dice or turn of the wheel, we should be biting our nails, and so should he... although a quick trip to Las Vegas does up the ante, injecting a needed dose of existential suspense into the otherwise languid visual prose.

Overall, Caan's steely reactions to the bottom continuously falling out are a standout... albeit kind of a shame since he often slips out of trouble faster than it takes to maintain an edgy pulse throughout; it's like watching a diver swim with toothless sharks...

And yet, if you're a fan of the infectiously likeable square-jawed actor (a perfectly equal hybrid of cult and mainstream cinema) this is definitely an intriguing two-hour melodrama that actually gets better with each viewing. What initially seems rather mundane becomes a voyeuristic character-study with subtle yet calculating finesse...

And given the ensemble-friendly era, there are a host of recognizable actors like one perturbed bookie, Jimmy, played by Carmine Caridi (who Francis Ford Coppola originally had in mind for what became Caan's game-changing role as Sonny Corleone in THE GODFATHER: then switched to a killer cameo in the sequel): He rules a memorable scene providing a deeper glimpse into Axel's addiction, and what might be the consequences...

Then there are future TV-fixtures Antonio Fargas, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Stuart Margolin and Vic Tayback. M. Emmett Walsh also turns up and as a weenie banker is another James... Woods...

Specifically, when playing on cable, Time Warner Cable's top-of-the-screen index description states very simply: "James Caan in a study in self-destruction." And, well... that's pretty much that...

What sets out to be a proverbial X-ray of the soul winds up merely exposing bones. Then again, THE GAMBLER leaves most of the fleshing-out for an impartial and ambiguous audience. Which isn't so bad either.

Classic 70s film about addiction

[shotguntom · 17 April 2002]

The theme of addiction is a favourite area for film makers and "The Gambler" stands as the best and most intelligent film about the addiction of gambling. The fact that it is a little known or seen film is perhaps to do with its intellectual script which, with references to Dostoyevsky, may be too pretentious for some. However, rather than being a cleched film about a good man's decent into the hell of addiction this is a film about a selfish, egotistical man, from a good background, who happily wades deeper and deeper into his obsession.

The film's title pretty much sums up the story, with the character of Axel Freed, played by James Caan, beginning the film as a compulsive gambler but sinking further and further into his habit as the film goes on. He does this despite his undoubted intelligence - he is a college lecturer - and despite the pleading of his mother, rich grandfather and friends.

Freed is by no means a likeable character. Like most addicts all he cares about is his next fix and will happily ask his mother for tens of thousands of dollars to repay an outstanding debt. No one, including his girlfriend, played by Lauren Hutton, and his college students, remain untouched by his addiction, a decision which comes back to haunt him in the film's climax.

Many people have been left puzzled by the film's ending which is cryptic and unresolved. However this merely stands as a metaphor for addiction generally, that it can never be fully cured or ever totally go away. Axel is, however, obviously disgusted with himself and the effect his gambling has had on those around him and his late night journey into the all-black neighbourhood is his way of seeking retribution for his sins.

"The Gambler" provides James Caan with, alongside Michael Mann's "Thief", the best role of his career. The character of Axel Freed provides him with a range of emotions, especially in the way he treats those he cares about, as his gambling slowly takes precedence over everything else. Anyone who thinks James Caan's career began and ended with "The Godfather" should definitely see "The Gambler", as this proves he is one of the top actors of his generation and that he can play more than just the tough guy roles he is too often saddled with.

The film is brilliantly directed by Karel Reisz as not a single scene rings false despite a 111 minute running time. After directing the classic "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" in Britain, Reisz relocated to America, but, unfortunately, "The Gambler" represents the only time he reached those heights again.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 7/10 · 7 July 2005]

A gritty, realistic film about addiction, it has a bit of haunting atmosphere to it, and although awfully dreary and a touch too harrowing for its own good, the film still packs a punch. Caan has a very interesting character, one who understands his own addiction yet still deceives himself, and he gives off a very solid performance, even though his character does come off rather cold and a bit hard to relate to. What the film shows us and what happens is quite predictable, but that does not prevent it from still having potency, and the ending certainly is not predictable, and is actually rather fascinating. The film's music score fits the project perfectly, and the driving sequences depict the character's feelings very well. Certainly this worth checking out, even if it is no cinema masterpiece.

A bit disturbing

[kayrok · 9/10 · 19 June 2003]

From the first scene to the last I was on the edge of my seat. Bet after bet my stomach turned. Caan's Axel Freed is driven to hit the big one, but it never seems to come or be enough. He loves the thrill of losing and feels safe when he is at the bottom.

Watching Freed bet tens of thousands of dollars on whims is excruciating. This film is one huge car wreck that you can't turn away from. With each scene the damage gets worse and worse.

"If all my bets were safe they just wouldn't have any juice," he tells his bookie.

Axel is never happy--even when he is doing the thing he enjoys most. You can see the underlying dissatisfaction he has with his job, his life, and the universe in general. The only constant in his existence is the bet. Win or lose.

Freed is very adept at evading the lowlifes he owes his shirt to. It is a joyride for him to constantly "dodge the bullet". That is why each bet becomes riskier and riskier. He wants to see what will happen to him when all of his luck runs out.

At one point in the film Axel reads a passage from an essay on George Washington to his class. He and his students conclude that Washington was afraid of failure and that he tried to remove the element of risk from everything he did. It is the very antithesis of Axel's life as a gambler. He creates situations that are totally immersed in risk believing that it is the only way to ensure true success. All or nothing. He is willing to compromise not only himself, but anyone around him who cares about him. By displaying his dark, self-destructive side he gambles with their feelings and challenges them to either love him or leave him.

It was a special treat to see two actors (Cann and Sorvino) who are in two of the best crime movies ever made (The Godfather and Goodfellas) together in the same film.

Also Antonio Vargas is appropriately slimy as the Pimp (sort of an R-rated Huggy Bear).

There are some pivotal moments in the film like when Axel is told that he must get one of his basketball-playing students to fix a game; or when he confronts his millionaire grandfather after learning that he refused to cover his debt.

I won't give away the ending, but the payoff is not what you would expect in American cinema.

1974's "The Gambler": We get The Wicked What Where's The Why?

[jtncsmistad · 6/10 · 6 May 2016]

James Caan is Axel Freed, a gambling addict hell-bent on self-destruction in the gritty 1974 crime drama "The Gambler".

A college literature professor by day, Axel wages a vicious war with himself off campus during his off hours, shattering the limits of both underground and legit wagers. Axel knows full well that the odds against him are recklessly daunting. Dangerously so. Nevertheless, we come to learn that this is a deeply troubled soul, and a guy who has long since succumbed to a ceaseless struggle to quench an insatiable thirst for "the juice" which betting has insidiously inflicted.

James Caan is the man. "The Gambler" is one among a string of classic movies the iconic actor starred in during the '70's ranging from "Brian's Song" to the first two installments of the "The Godfather" saga. Caan's portrayal of Axel is a searingly wrenching performance. He gives us a confoundingly complicated man, one blessed with abundant intelligence and charm yet powerless to break free from the vise grip his all consuming vice has on his rapidly unraveling life.

The supporting cast is stellar. Paul Sorvino is perfection as an illegal gambling boss who reveals that he has at least a semblance of a heart. Lauren Hutton is underdeveloped as Axel's conflicted girlfriend, though she does have a compelling scene in a Vegas hotel room toward the end of the film that emotionally foreshadows the grim fate destined to befall her beau. Jacqueline Brookes makes her own indelible impression as Axel's heartbroken and exploited mother. And Burt Young impresses during his brief but explosive appearance as a wise guy enforcer only a couple of years shy of his career blasting off with the continuing role of Paulie in the first of the "Rocky" films franchise.

While Caan is exceptional here, I would liked to have seen a more detailed exploration into why his character of Axel behaves the way that he does. Much is intimated, but little is actually disclosed. His conduct and choices, while for the most part abominable, are as fascinating as they are baffling. But what drives the seemingly insane behavior of this fellow who clearly has an exceptional capacity to think, interpret and express at such a high level? Czechoslovakian Director Karel Reisz ("The French Lieutenant's Woman", "Sweet Dreams" but not a lot else, actually) leaves it largely to our own conjecture to determine why in the hell Axel insists on barreling completely out of control down a one-way highway to oblivion. And the resultant aftertaste is not nearly as palatable as it could have been.

The final image of "The Gambler" is a grotesquely grim one to be sure. Yet we get the unsettling feeling that Axel was never going to be genuinely "satisfied" until it got to this horrifically ugly point. And I suppose that after all this is the enduring point that Reisz is making with this sordidly squalid story. It was just such a murky journey he took us on to reach this cacophonous climax.

"The Gambler" didn't hit the jackpot for me, so I'm gonna "roll 6" for this one based off of Caan's enigmatic yet engrossing performance and for the wonderful work of the superb supporting cast.

excellent character study, caan can act

[mikel weisser · 9/10 · 25 June 2002]

a shocker in the 70s james toback's take on Dostoevskyan's fate, caan actually seems to act instead of react and gives a far more compelling performance than say, Thief 7 yrs. later. The Gambler is James toback's career making debut and has some of the most intense scenes toback would ever film despite numerous strong films later on. the ending is monumental. watch it build and be amazed. 9 of 10.

The Gambler: A Review.

[LordEmeryStanfordMerloe · 7/10 · 1 January 2005]

Hmmm. This is a difficult film to analyze. Reason being, it succeeds in many ways- and fails in others. This film is the story of Axel Freed, played by James Caan. He is an addict. And this is the nucleus of the film, addiction. After reading most of the reviews here, I fear some people missed this. If anyone has ever been an addict, or knows someone, friend or family, that is, will connect. Others may just go through the motions. He is a hard-core gambler, who takes insane risks, namely sports, no matter what the cost. In this respect, the film succeeds in its depiction of this side of human trials. Other than this, we sit through too much "fill in". Caan being a college professor is hard to imagine (yes, anyone can be an addict, but we don't want to see him teaching a college course!).His relationship with his Grandfather seems to only tease us, as it comes and goes. The film also shows its age, as it is quite dated. This brings us to the films major flaw, its ending. The Gambler may have the honor to own the most inexplicable endings in film history. The writers failed so miserably here, you wonder what their thinking was. It tried way, way, way too hard to intrigue the viewer, that it left us only puzzled, nothing more. Ultimately The Gambler succeeds. Why, It depicts successfully what it's about, addiction. On this level, it's an enjoyable sit-through, as James Caan is a pleasure to watch in this role, as is each character. Burt Young, is another terrific character that the film needed to show more of. His 10 minutes of screen time wasn't enough. An ultimate slime ball that only came and went too darn soon. Most of the dialoge is top-notch, as Freeds "connections", as well as Freed are downright terrific to listen to, even funny, as we go through his gambling "adventures". Despite its flaws ( some people inexcusably shot their?!*@! and rated this film 9/10 or 10/10, I guess Casablanca or The Godfather is in the same league to them) I enjoyed this film, as you will too. 7/10. Thanks.

Worth the Gamble

[joel cohen · 9/10 · 6 September 2005]

I saw this movie back in 1974/75 when it was released. I was already a Caan man. My comments are just random tidbits. Burt Young would go on to join Caan in 1975's The Killer Elite". Monkey (London Lee) was a stand-up comic who appeared numerous times on the Ed Sullivan show in the 60's. Lauren Hutton would trade Caan for Burt Reynolds in Gator. Caan earlier had beat out Burt for the role of Sonny Corleone. The line I remember most from this film is when Axel's mother is trying to get a bank loan to fund his gambling debt. There are some bureaucratic snafus and the bank officer isn't sure he has the proof to approve the loan to mom. Caan says "I came out of her womb and I know she's my mom. Now give her the god... money!".

Worth the gamble

[blakestachel · 6/10 · 31 March 2021]

The Gamble (1974) is a formally interesting, narrative boilerplate. Its convention detracts from what is a boldly directed film by Karel Reisz which features a commanding James Caan in the lead

Caan plays an inherently wealthy teacher of literature who appears to be in complete control of his life. He's impressive, multi-talented, and interested in intellect and culture. This makes his inability to control an obsessive gambling addiction all the more interesting and incongruous. An opening sequence shows him tossing away forty-four grand, and he spends the rest of the film gaining and losing it back.

The linings of of that story have been sewn a hundred times before, but Reisz decides to make a romantic version of a film that is usually gritty and told at a chilling pace. He chooses slow tracking shots and long two shots instead of quick cuts and close-ups. This approach results in melodrama rather than an attempt at gravely realism, which one would expect from a film about a gambling addict.

The style works about half the time; like, for instance, when Caan and his beatific lover (Lauren Hutton) abscond to Vegas for a day, immersing themselves in the rapturous aura of the casino and the intoxicating elation of an ordained winning streak. It doesn't work, however, when the luck runs dry and the script turns harsh. Confrontations between Caan and dodgy characters to whom he owes money, require that they are shot at a closer distance and at a faster pace to achieve a certain tension that is sorely missing.

Perhaps Reisz vision would've worked better had the script not relied so heavily on all of the obvious tropes of the gambler story. Ultimately, Reisz doesn't come out ahead, although he doesn't throw it all away either.

Cult film classic inspired by "Notes from Underground"

[EThompsonUMD · 9/10 · 31 January 2009]

"The Gambler" (1974) is a riveting drama about a man who - like many young adults in the baby boom generation - rejects the world of privilege and comfort he has been born into. Rather than turning to some form of counter-culture politics, however, Alex Freed (James Caan) holds an establishment job as a professor of English while pursuing "the juice" of financial, social, and even physical risk and pain during his considerable free time.

Like Dostoyevski's Underground Man, to whom the screenplay pays homage in an early scene of Freed lecturing to his students at NYC (i. e. CCNY), "the gambler" rejects the middle class world of reason and social convention and instead embraces the irrational, the realm of will and desire where two plus two can equal five and where poets, athletes, and addicts can "know" and experience things that ordinary human beings living in the rut of mundane existence cannot.

Unfortunately for Freed he will never be a poet although, as a literature professor, he can quote Shakespeare, e.e. cummings, and Walt Whitman with anyone. He can also turn an original phrase or two and lead his relatives, friends, and other less literary folk to believe that he has great books in him. But the truth is that he's a third rate talent stuck in a $1500 a month gig trying to wheedle literary appreciation out of reluctant undergrads who are obviously going through the motions to get paper qualified for one pragmatic goal or another.

He is also not a great athlete although he kids himself about how he might have been a star basketball player - even, at one point, stopping at a playground in Harlem to take on a local 15 year old hot shot in a game of one-on-one, betting $20 to a dime that he will win. He gives the hot shot a pretty good game, but loses, thus establishing the real extent of his athletic talent for us - and perhaps himself - to see. No, the only sure and easy way he can get the juice is through gambling and the self deceptions about winning and losing that his compulsive behavior entails.

Considering the barrage of searing insults that Harvard-educated Axel Freed hurls at the Brown University (my alma mater) football team, I would like to say very bad things about this film, but I'd be lying. Written by heralded screenwriter James Toback ("Fingers," "Bugsy," etc.) and featuring one of James Caan's finest performances, "The Gambler" has deservedly become a 1970s cult classic.

Engrossing.

[gridoon · 7/10 · 19 September 2000]

A grim and intelligent drama that offers a seemingly accurate portrayal of the gambling obsession and an engrossing character study of a man that suffers from it. Very well-acted and well-told as a story, it remains highly interesting from start to finish. Marred only by its weird, inconclusive and somewhat inexplicable ending. (***)

How to enjoy the fun of losing.

[shiannedog · 5/10 · 24 November 2021]

Looking to this film for entertainment is like looking in your fridge to satisfy your hunger and finding half of a pizza covered with black mold. The acting, editing, and cinematography are great but the story is crappy and pathetic. The only redeeming character in the film is the gambler's mother who is anguishing over her son's bankrupt character. The movie leaves you feeling very morose. Watch Fat City instead.

A Meditation On Losing

[Lechuguilla · 6 September 2008]

Sometimes he wins; but mostly he loses. Gambling is an addiction for Axel Freed (James Caan), a professor of English literature and lover of classical music. The film is set in New York City.

The object of the obsession can be almost anything on which a bet is placed: dice, cards, a basketball game, a college football match. It really doesn't matter. Axel just can't keep from making bets. He's like two different people. In a classroom setting, he is logical and intelligent. But when betting, he throws away the logic in favor of risk taking. In these situations he seems to lack the normal psychological "brakes" that could be applied to his destructive over-betting. In his own words: "I like the threat of losing". And always in the background are the thugs and the con men that lord over Axel, when he borrows to gamble, but can't pay his debt.

Some of Axel's classroom lectures have real thematic value. The ideas relate both to him, and incidentally to some modern-day politicians. For example, a person "... claims an idea is true because he wants it to be true, because he says it's true. And the issue isn't whether he's right, but whether he has the will to believe he's right, no matter how many proofs there are that say he's wrong". Axel continues: "D.H. Lawrence says Americans fear new experience more than they fear anything. They are the world's greatest dodgers, because they dodge their own very selves". Heavy stuff.

Despite a disappointing ending, "The Gambler" is an interesting character study of a personality type that is all too prevalent in modern society. The film's color cinematography is generally dark, in keeping with the film's theme. Overall acting is fine. Paul Sorvino gives an especially convincing performance, as does James Caan. The plot proceeds rather slowly.

Mostly, the film has terrific thematic value. It encourages the viewer to pause and reflect, to ponder, to question one's own motivations. That is a trait lacking in many current movies.

Ending killed it

[joeluisrodrigz · 6/10 · 3 March 2021]

Everything about this was good. The acting the story seeing NYC in the 70's...and then that colossally confusing ending. Would have rated better.

insight into self destructive behaviour

[tommynotrumps · 9/10 · 12 October 2005]

The Gambler is still after thirty years the definitive movie about the gambling experience. I remember the first time i saw this movie when i was in my mid-teens. I had just started my own personal gambling journey, attending my local dog track. There was something very special about this movie and i knew it would have a profound effect on my life. From the beginning, The Gambler is a very dark movie. The opening scenes are of James Caan leaving a casino in the early hours of the morning after losing heavily at the tables. He drives his car recalling his losses and curses to himself. The movie soundtrack plays Gustav Mahler's 1st Symphony (this piece sets the whole tone for the movie in my opinion). Mahler is great for tragedy (remember Death in Venice). Caan's character, Axel Freed, then wipes himself out completely, losing his last 20 bucks to some guys playing basketball for small change. This is the first indication as to Axel's self-destructiveness, that he is always looking for a 'result', be it good or bad. We learn that Axel is a an educated man, very educated. He teaches English as a University Professor. In his gambling though he chooses to play the fool, perhaps purposely. He avoids the 'locks' and sure things and instead courts uncertainty in his never ending craving for thrills and experience. Unless his bet is good for 'action', then it is no good at all. Unfortunately for Axel and everyone he loves (mother, girlfriend, grandfather) this cavalier style of play leads to nothing but financial misery and breakdown of valued relationships (particularly that with his mother, which is also key to the whole film). He is a martingale player in the true sense (double or nothing). One day everything seems to go right and he reaches a plateau when doubling on 18 and drawing a 3! He wins enough to break free from his shylocks, but is still not satisfied and he risks all his profits from his good day on a game of basketball. The scene when he loses this bet in the last second of the game listening to the commentary in the bath is incredibly real to anyone who has gambled for 'proper' money and lost will testify. That feeling of being absolutely sick to your stomach, not to mention the feelings of isolation, guilt and plain stupidity. The film could of ended there in a way, but it goes to another level. To finally free himself of the money lenders (local mob), Axel agrees to fix a college basketball game where he teaches by bribing one of his English students who is the star player on the team. In a close game Axel's student comes through and his debts are cleared. As at the start of the film though, Axel is still looking for a result. The only gamble left to him, is that of his own life. He walks into a bar and picks up a prostitute in the Harlem district of New York. Then he purposely does not pay her which provokes her pimp (Antonio Fargas a.k.a Huggy Bear) into drawing a knife on him. Caan pushes himself onto the knife, daring the pimp to kill him. Fargas pushes him away and Caan begins to beat on him relentlessly. As he drops his knife, the hooker picks it up and slashes Caan. Staggering from the building, Axel sees his reflection. Blood pours from the wound. He smiles to himself, he has his result! Mahler plays... Also watch out for the scene in the film when Axel and leg-breaker for one of the loan sharks visit a guy who cant pay. The first time you watch this its terrifying.

Powerfully Acted Character Study with Not Much Else to Recommend

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 15 March 2017]

A Raw Character Study about a Degenerate. A Fully Fledged Gambling Addict that has Lost virtually all Connection with the Flesh and Blood Reality that is His Privileged Life as the Son of a Doctor and Grandson of a Multi-Millionaire Businessman.

This New York City English Professor also has a Loving Girl Friend, He is in Contact with these Family and Friends, it seems, only as Polite Obligation or when He Needs Help Scraping Money for His Losses.

The Way He Gambles makes No Sense (not surprising) and is Typical of the Psychological Breakdown that Occurs when the Game Has Won Out Over the Player and Controls His Behavior by way of His Addiction. The Gambling Decisions He makes and the Bets He Places are Destined for Inevitable Losses.

James Caan as "The Gambler" uses Literary Quotes and some Rationalizations of His Own to Justify Why He "Does what He does", but none of it makes any Sense beyond the Selfish and Hedonistic.

The Film has that 1970's Grit and the Focus of the Camera and Dialog is on Caan 90% of the time and the Actor has the Chops to Dominate the Frame and the Story.

The Story itself has Few New Insights about Gambling, Addiction, or the Self-Destruction that Ensues. The Ending is Controversial and Symbolic.

Overall, it's a Well Made Movie that is Overrated, but James Caan's Performance makes it Worth a Watch. As for the rest of the Film, it's only Slightly Above Average.

A true depiction of gambling.

[varsania · 10/10 · 18 May 2001]

I found this film very, very good and being a gambler myself could relate to the central character. James Caan is brilliant as always. The film keeps simmering on until a quite dramatic ending where Axel goes to seek thrills that even gambling cannot provide him with.

A fine, realist film for all, but gamblers, quite bad gamblers at that, will find to be particularly interesting.

Good movie, bad end

[DoobieKeebler · 7/10 · 3 June 2003]

James Caan carries this gripping and suspenseful drama as a college professor who digs the thrill of gambling, but finds himself in trouble and out of control.

It's quite engaging and effective for the first 100 minutes, but stop the movie after they leave the basketball game. One of the most disappointing, unsatisfying endings to an otherwise noteworthy '70s film.

The only thing thats standing between your skull and a baseball bat is my word

[sol1218 · 9/10 · 8 January 2005]

**SPOILERS** Terribly depressing character study of a degenerate gambler who's luck hit rock bottom with him getting into the hole for $44,000.00 to the mob who's been bankrolling his action.

James Caan in one of his most memorable roles as Axel Freed a collage English professor, at the prestigious Fordham University in New York City, who's gambling his life away in his almost suicidal attempt to make the big score. Axel is not a total loser in the movie, he does have his share of big hits in the film, but like almost all gamblers he plays to lose more then to win by going against his better judgment, it makes things more challenging and exciting that way for him. It's when he bets and ends up broke that Alex has to go to local mob Shylock's to get cash, to continue his insane betting, that has him at the brink of having his arms legs and head disjointed and broken or busted.

Because of the subject matter as well as the fine acting from Mr. Caan and the rest of the cast the movie really grabs you and leaves you feeling almost as depressed and despondent as Axel is in it. You really feel for the man since he has an almost incurable disease, compulsive gambling, thats slowly turning this very likable and friendly person into an uncontrollable monster.

Axel is not only destroying himself but his widowed mom Naomie Freed, Jacqueline Brooks. Naomie cashes out her life savings of almost $50,000.00 to pay off her sons debts to the mob. As soon as Axel gets the money his mother gave him to practically save his life and limbs he immediately gambles it away on a number of basketball games! This puts him into even more of a hole with the gangsters then he already was in. At the same time Alexs actions has his shocked girlfriend Billie ,Lauren Hutton, walk out on him in total disgust.

Walking aimlessly in the park Axel is grabbed by two mobsters and taken to a mob hideout in the city. Given one last chance to pay up or else they come up with what even Axel feels is something thats not worth his life to do. He's told to get one of his students Spencer, Carl W. Crudup, who's a top basketball player for the collage team to shave points in a big game that he's playing in that evening with Axel giving him $5,000.00 to do it. This act of corrupting an innocent person to save his hide for the troubles that he got himself into was the straw that broke the camels back for the now extremely tormented Axel and finally opened his eyes, to not only what he was doing to himself but to those around him as well.

With his debts now finally paid off and the mob off his back Axel instead of being relived becomes suicidal and at the end of the movie gambles with the most prized and valuable item in his possession: His Life.

Good movie, bad end

[DoobieKeebler · 7/10 · 4 June 2003]

James Caan carries this gripping and compelling drama about a college professor of literature who is driven by the thrill of gambling.

The movie is very good for the first 100 minutes or so, but the ending is very unsatisfying and disappointing. I'd recommend turning the movie off after they leave the final basketball game.

the ending

[blueskysattv · 10/10 · 6 June 2016]

Spoiler alert So for the ending that confuses people; Axel has just lost his last shred of character and any sense of ethics by corrupting his student basketball player to get out of his jam. He has absolutely nothing left of value and no reason to live, he has proved himself to be the true coward he has always known himself to be. On a death wish he goes into the ghetto looking for trouble, which he finds with the pimp and prostitute. After goading the pimp into killing him fails, he takes his anger and hatred for himself out on the pimp, and the only thing that stops him from beating the pimp to death is the prostitute's knife. His face sliced open, he staggers down the stairs and looks into the mirror with a smile, as while he wasn't killed at least he has been permanently disfigured. This film is all about self hatred - gambling is just a symptom of what is really going on with Axel.

An unattractive character in James Caan's smooth-talking sociopath's body

[steiner-sam · 6/10 · 9 July 2022]

It's set in the 1970s and portrays a college professor with a compulsive gambling problem who runs back to the edge whenever he seemingly has a way out of his situation.

Axel Freed (James Caan) is an English professor in a small New York City college. He comes from a wealthy family. His mother, Naomi (Jacqueline Brookes), is a successful medical doctor. His maternal grandfather, A. R. Lowenthal (Morris Carnovsky), owns the largest chain of furniture stores in the United States.

Axel has a beautiful girlfriend, Billie (Lauren Hutton), of an indeterminate background and profession. His bookie, known only as Hips (Paul Sorvino), is part of a larger Mafia structure.

The movie starts with a bad gambling night in which Axel ends up in the hole $44,000. Then, we see Axel lecturing in class about the desire to believe in something that isn't true. Among his students is the basketball team's star player, Spencer (Carl U. Crudup).

The movie follows Axel's on-again-off-again attempts to raise money to pay his debt to increasingly threatening gangsters. He borrows money from his mother, but before paying his debt, he takes off to Las Vegas with Billie, where he appears to double his money. But things start downhill as we see Axel's obsession with greater and greater chances, his unending efforts to manipulate other people in his life, his inability to tell the truth, and his sometimes-no-so-latent violence. Finally, Axel gets his wish in the end.

Axel Freed is an unattractive character in James Caan's smooth-talking sociopath's body. However, Caan does play the character very well. Lauren Hutton doesn't have much of a personality. Jacqueline Brookes and Morris Carnovsky are good in their roles. The small-college basketball game fix makes no logical sense in the storyline. The film's ending is an obvious attempt to clarify the film's point.

Dull

[bregund · 2/10 · 15 May 2022]

Remember how animated James Caan was in the Godfather? You couldn't take your eyes off of him. In this film he's the exact opposite, dull as dishwater. Maybe it's the supporting cast, who frankly aren't very good, the actress who plays his mother for example is terrible, delivering her lines as though she's going through a reading. Paul Sorvino tries to inject some much-needed life into his scenes, but you can only hear "you owe us money" so many times before it loses its power...by the hundredth time, you're convinced the mob isn't going to do anything to the main character. Even the romantic scenes between Caan and Lauren Hutton are flat and lifeless. In the hands of the right director this film could have really popped but the sense of urgency implied by the situations and the characters and the dialogue doesn't exist...for example, the scene where Caan is kidnapped, he doesn't look terrified he looks bored. This movie is lame.