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The Gambler

The Gambler

Drama · Crime · 1974

New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.

Movie details

The Gambler

“For $10,000 they break your arms. For $20,000 they break your legs. Axel Freed owes $44,000.”

1974 Drama · Crime 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

New York City English professor Axel Freed outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Gambler?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Basketball Diaries

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A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Molly's Game

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Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.

A Bronx Tale

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Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.

Casino

Casino

Crime · 1995

In Las Vegas, two best friends--a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.

Once Upon a Time in America

Once Upon a Time in America

Drama · 1984

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin

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Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.

Bugsy

Bugsy

Crime · 1991

New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Karel Reisz

Written by

James Toback

James Caan

James Caan

Axel

Paul Sorvino

Paul Sorvino

Hips

Lauren Hutton

Lauren Hutton

Billie

Morris Carnovsky

Morris Carnovsky

A. R. Lowenthal

Jacqueline Brookes

Jacqueline Brookes

Naomi

Burt Young

Burt Young

Carmine

Carmine Caridi

Carmine Caridi

Jimmy

Court is in session

Put The Gambler on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.