“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.

Following this morning’s debut of Inherent Vice, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson and a slew of the film’s cast took the stage at the Walter Reade Theater for a Q&A with assorted press & industry members. Along with Anderson, actors Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Benicio del Toro, Maya Rudolph, Joanna Newsom, Michael K. Williams, Hong Chau, Jena Malone, Owen Wilson, Sasha Pieterse, and Martin Short were all in attendance for the film’s first public screening and subsequent press conference. Tonight, the New York Film Festival and the Film Society of Lincoln Center has uploaded the full talk to their YouTube page for a those eager to hear more about the mysterious new project.

“I saw The Big Sleep and it made me realize I couldn’t follow any of it, and it didn’t matter, ’cause I just wanted to see what was gonna’ happen next anyway,” said Anderson of his influences for Inherent Vice, along with answers to why he shot the film flat vs. scope and how his actors prepared to evoke the 1970s. Check out the full Inherent Vice press conference from NYFF52 below:

Inherent Vice Press Conference

With the 50^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement’s march on Washington having just passed, and with the historically deplorable Columbus Day holiday upcoming, we can’t be reminded enough of the history of humanity’s tyranny over one another. Sobering and immensely difficult to watch, British director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, is to date the most unyielding film depiction of slavery in America ever released. With raw and heart wrenching performances from it’s cast, and a brutally honest artistic perspective from it’s director, this film deserves serious attention and veneration.

Based on the book published in 1853, 12 Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free African-American living in New York in 1841, who was torn from his life of freedom to that of slavery. Once a man of distinction and known for his musical talents, Northup is duped into taking a job with two men who drug him and sell him into slavery. Given the new identity of “Platt Hamilton” and forced to recognize himself as a runaway slave from Georgia, he was sold to and owned by several plantation owners in the Louisiana bayous. Unsure of whether he would ever see his wife and children back in New York, Northup is faced with the greatest obstacle any man can face: the revocation of his humanity and freedom.

Just as a slave in those days had no respite from the daily injustices they were subjected to, the film offers very little rest from the non-stop emotional and physical devastation of slavery. Indeed, in the way that Northup is thrown into and introduced to the severity of what it was to be a slave, so are we the audience forced into an uncomfortable understanding of what it would be to have all ones privileges and family stripped from them. Northup’s position as a free man is identifiable to us, and therefore his harrowing journey is all the more provoking. Through every hanging, every lashing, each panic-inducing escape attempt, McQueen uses the camera to show more than we’ve ever seen before and for longer than we’ve ever seen it. But aside from the physical barbarity we’re forced to witness, it’s the assassination of the soul that is hardest to watch.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) IS Solomon Northup. Each wide-eyed look of disbelief when Northup encounters new injustices, and his eloquent speaking patterns, as a man both educated and wise, shows a complete immersion into the role. Michael Fassbender (an actor I often find myself not recognizing immediately in films because he seems so utterly different in every role he plays) epitomizes the very worst of men to emerge from white dominance in the slave-fueled South. As Solomon/Platt’s master, Edwin Epps oversees his slaves with a sort of controlled insanity that can only come from the drunkenness of entitled power. Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, and Brad Pitt also give pivotal and fantastic performances. Though, side note, it’s honestly unsettling how well Paul Dano seems to be at playing despicable people. The face to watch from 12 Years a Slave, however, is that of Lupita Nyong’o. This newcomer plays fellow slave Patsey, a woman subjected to the living hell of being the Master’s favorite. Arguably having the hardest content of the entire film to perform, she is mesmerizing and her performance is truly affecting.

McQueen has made two other feature films, Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008), each about difficult topics. He’s made it clear he isn’t afraid to challenge his viewers with disturbing content, but with this film he’s found the best outlet for his talent. He shows a masterful control of the subject matter, never letting it overwhelm the artistic focus of the film, and pairing every heightened moment with well-designed sound editing and an unsettling musical score.

While Tarantino’s vengefully satisfying Django Unchained showed far more blood, gore, and savagery than 12 Years a Slave does, it’s ridiculousness made it laughable and thus far easier to take. McQueen’s film is not easy to take, and this is what makes it an absolute must-see; in fact even elicits a feeling of significance while viewing it. This film, and others like it, will always be necessary. Serving as a reminder of all we have, and all that can be denied from us. The moment we stop thinking about the past, at it’s most truthful, may be the moment we lapse into old ways of thinking. 12 Years a Slave has set the bar in honest historical filmmaking, as well as just how emotionally connecting a film can be.

12 Years a Slave trailer:

Wonderful World is an indie drama that stars Matthew Broderick in a role that is not what most people are used to seeing him in. It’s a directorial debut for Joshua Goldin but it is not the first time Goldin and Broderick have a film in common with one another. Goldin wrote Out on a Limb which Broderick stared in. This film is not the most put-together film but the writing seemed solid. Maybe Goldin should stick to writing.

Ben Signer (Matthew Broderick) is a pessimistic divorcee that has little going for him in his life. He has worked at a dead-end proofreading job for eight years and most all of his co-workers alienate him. And to top it off, he has a tough time connecting with his daughter.

Things take a turn early on when his roommate, Ibu, goes into diabetic coma. Because of Ibu’s sudden medical situation, his sister Khadi for some reason stays with Ben. Why she stays with him when they have never met before, is a little strange to me.

The two bond quickly and then advances to a romantic relationship. Although, it is a little awkward for them in the beginning. And why would it not be? Ben is hooking up with his roommate’s sister who he just met while his roommate is in coma. However, he now seems happier and has hope in his life. Even his daughter seems to be getting along with him better now that Khadi is in the picture.

I was impressed with Matthew Broderick in this role. Maybe that is because it was such a different role for him. Much like Jim Carey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it is a side you rarely get to see from the actor that is often typecasted to a certain role. It was not like his performance in Wonderful World was absolutely amazing, it was just different. And I liked that change.

Because the plot failed to deliver any type of real climax the resolution was not very successful. The relatively serious message it tried to convey was lost. Never once in the film did I feel any strong connection to any of the characters. Nor did I think the outcome of events throughout the film were believable.

Wonderful World seems like it was a fairly smart and decent written script with bad execution and mediocre acting. The story lost focus early with meaningless what’s-the-point-of-that scenes. I cannot say I have any desire to watch this film again and if you have not yet had to sit through it, I recommend you do not.