“Don’t look at him. Look at me. Just deal the cards.” Mark Wahlberg plays a man sprinting down the path of self-destruction in The Gambler, a bitter character portrait set in the seedy world of L.A. underground betting. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) does a good job directing a gifted cast of talents young and old, and moody cinematography by Greig Fraser gives the film a stylish visual signature, but it’s in the script by William Monahan where the film comes up short. Wahlberg is fully capable of carrying a film on his shoulders and does as best he can here, but when you’re stuck with a character so cynical and ungrateful, we need something more to compel us and keep a vested interest in his journey of doom and gloom, something the introspectively passive script fails to provide.

A remake of the 1974 Karel Reisz movie of the same name, Wyatt’s film starts with a nail-biting game of blackjack at a Korean-run gambling party, thousands of dollars of our anti-hero Jim Bennett’s (Wahlberg) money on the line. “Just deal the cards,” he unblinkingly tells the dealer, who keeps glancing nervously to the casino enforcers hovering in the background. Bennett’s a picture of composure, a high-roller in complete control. Then again…maybe not. The game doesn’t go his way, and a nearby loanshark named Neville (Michael K. Williams) notices, like us, that Bennett looks unbothered, like he just lost 5 bucks at the slots rather than several stacks in a high-stakes card game. Is this man addicted to gambling, or addicted to losing?

After some wise-ass jabbering, Bennett convinces the not-to-be-fucked-with Neville to loan him $50,000. He also ends up borrowing even money from another dangerous kingpin, Frank (John Goodman, in beast mode), who’s also not to be fucked with. Of course, he fucks with them. We learn that Bennett–in his other life a university English professor and retired novelist (he quit after one book)–has one week to pay back the $240,000 debt he owes the Korean mobsters. A dizzying game of evading hitmen and robbing Peter to pay Paul ensues, with Bennett shrugging off all outside help (his wealthy mother, played by Jessica Lange, loans him the debt money, which he squanders at the tables), content with accepting his downfall all by his lonesome.

Hope for a less dreary future lies in the classroom. Amy (Brie Larson) is Bennett’s star student, and also happened to be working as a waitress the night he lost that game of blackjack. There’s a chance, be it a small one, that Amy could be the safety line that saves Bennett from his downward spiral. Two students who may also play a part in his escape from his doom addiction are Lamar (Anthony Kelley), a star basketball player, and Dexter (Emory Cohen), the number 2 college tennis player in the country. How they figure into the grand plot feels a little contrived and convenient, but Kelley does a fine job as a first-time actor, keeping pace with Wahlberg like a pro.

Wahlberg lost a significant amount of weight to play Bennett and exhibits less of his signature tough guy bravado than usual. He’s a whiner, a weasel, and a fast talker who always has something snarky or pessimistic to say, particularly in front of his students. I was surprised to find Wahlberg to be a pretty believable college professor, rambling and ranting about Shakespeare and the absurdity of being a novelist with dark, explosive eloquence. Larson provides arguably the film’s best performance, adding much-needed soul and level-headedness to the scenes she steals. Goodman and Williams are both given chewy roles that they both own, keeping the film alive when it’s on the verge of falling asleep.

In the film’s late stages, it becomes painfully clear that whatever’s going on inside Bennett’s head isn’t that complex or interesting at all, or at least Wyatt and Monahan aren’t interested in exploring the depths of his pathos. Bennett doesn’t reveal himself to be much more than a sad-sack slacker, a lazy schmuck with a death wish who loves swimming with sharks. Even in the film’s climax, you have about as much sympathy for Bennett as you do a snoozing teenager you’re trying to shake awake so they won’t be late for school. It’s infuriating, and barely worthwhile. Wake the hell up, you lazy bastard! I’ve got better things to do!

Fraser’s visuals help keep things flowing, with jazzy compositions (especially during the intense card games) and clever uses of tilt-shift and time lapse. The dreamlike imagery, editing, and soundtrack (an a capella version of Radiohead’s “Creep” is pretty…uh…creepy) invoke the haze of addiction, but the writing never follows through with the message, leaving us unstirred, with little to take home and think about.

David O. Russell’s The Fighter is based on a true story about the boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). Micky involves his entire family around his boxing career; using his half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale) as his trainer, his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) as his manager and his seven sisters act as sort of his cheerleader squad.

The Fighter begins in 1993 in Lowell, Massachusetts as an HBO documentary crew is there to film the older brother Dicky. The crew follows him around the streets and his daily interactions with the locals. Dicky believes the documentary crew is capturing his comeback into boxing as he once had a successful but short career himself. The highlight of his career, and quite possibly his life, is that he knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard. A fact that you will not forget as he will remind you at any chance he gets, although many people speculate that Sugar Ray Leonard tripped.

But the real reason behind the documentary is not to showcase his comeback but instead a look on how a one-time boxing hero is now a cocaine addict and criminal. Because Dicky spends most of his time getting high he is often late to training, still you can tell that he is very passionate about boxing and wants to see his brother succeed.

Up to this point, Micky is just considered a “stepping stone” of a fighter, one favored fighters use for as an easy win to climb the ranks. Although he has the talent to be a greater fighter, his dysfunctional family may be getting in the way. Micky credits everything he knows about boxing to his brother Dicky, whom he greatly idolizes even with his setbacks.

Micky’s new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) confirms his suspicion of his family hindering his chances to advance his career into something he can be proud of. Micky is obviously torn between his family and his desire to win a championship belt and Charlene is there to guide him along.

The opportunity to train in Vegas is given to Micky under the condition that he leaves his mother and brother behind. Charlene sort of pushes him to accept the offer as it would eventually lead him to a championship fight. Alice was never very accepting of Charlene’s new role in Micky’s life but more so as a mother than a manager. Alice thinks Charlene is trying to control Micky rather than seeing she is actually trying to help.

Still, Alice and Dicky follow them down to Vegas where Micky is ultimately forced to decide between his new crew including his girlfriend Charlene or his family. Micky breaks down and tells his family his is about him and his shot at winning the championship, he wants to decide how things will be ran. Doing so may result in losing his girlfriend, loyalty to his family or not winning the championship. It’s a tough fight for him already and he is not even in the ring yet.

The scene that stood out to me the most was when Dicky watches the documentary made about him, all excited for it only to realize it is about his addiction instead of his career. It not only embarrassed him but acted as a wake-up call for him, a blessing in disguise. Given the opportunity to go back to his old lifestyle when he runs into his old coke addict friends, he declines. That had more of an impact on me than any other part of the film.

Christian Bale might as well be working on this acceptance speech as he is a clear choice for Best Supporting Male at this year’s Oscars. He shows off his amazing talent portraying the cocky, twitchy and passionate ex-boxer now trainer. His dedication for the role is visually shown as he lost a significant amount of weight, repeating what he did before in The Machinist (then he was then forced to put it all back on for his role as Batman). Bale easily steals the film and is what makes it amazing.

It is hard to judge Mark Wahlberg’s performance because he, for the most part, stays out of the way. But he does this on purpose as the story is more focused on his brother Dicky. Micky is not supposed to have a huge personality but instead just be determined to win. Wahlberg was definitely physically built for the role and the fighting scenes looked real.

On the surface, The Fighter is just another boxing film that we have seen before in Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby, but somehow it stays relevant and memorable. The story is enjoyable but the acting is what makes this film so great. It does not get much better than Bale as far acting goes and Wahlberg, Adams and Leo follow his lead with solid performances as well.