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THE GAMBLER, directed by Karel Reisz, stars James Caan in a difficult role as Alex Freed, a compulsive gambler with many inner demons, who is completely out of control. He can't resist a bad bet because that's where the "juice" is. While his irrational rationalizations--largely influenced by Dostoyevsky, whose novel, THE GAMBLER, he teaches to his students at City College--might seem like a lot of existential hot air, they are well dramatized, making his descent downward believable even as his actions become increasingly frenetic. (officiële tekst van distribiteur)

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Malarkey 

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Engels I know quite a lot of gamblers, and I know their psyche. That’s why I don’t consider this film any kind of remarkable feat. I think that even though James Caan delivered a decent acting performance, he failed to portray a true addict. Those look a bit different. But maybe there is a difference between a 1970s American gambler and a Czech gambler of today, one that I cannot tell because I wasn’t yet born in the 1970s and I’ve never been to the US. So it could actually be a decent movie but I’m unable to tell objectively. If I, however, wanted to see a true gambler’s story, I’d go to a local pub where there are dozens of them. If I give them a hundred for the slot machine, they’ll gladly tell me their whole story, even shaking my hand and thanking me for my interest. And that would be something. ()