'Gambler' remake squanders great cast

"If you're not a genius, don't bother," the English professor played by Mark Walhberg in "The Gambler" blithely tells his students. That should be one clue that you're not gonna like this guy.

But there's a bigger problem with that line, because it inadvertently makes us think: If you're not doing a genius remake of an old movie, why bother? Director Rupert Wyatt's new version of the 1974 drama that starred James Caan as a self-destructive gambler lacks the bite of the first. It also largely wastes a talented cast.

At the center is Wahlberg, who is either miscast or misguided here. As Jim Bennett, a professor with a dangerous addiction to gambling, he's cool, slick, handsome - and that's pretty much it. We never once understand why he's drawn to gambling and so pitifully prone to self-destructive behavior. Moreover, we don't understand why people keep giving him another chance - like his mother (an excellent Jessica Lange), a woman whose pursed lips, icy veneer and dark glasses hide a heart that still cares for this wayward son.

Or like Amy (Brie Larson), the thoughtful student in Jim's class, who watches him leap through the lecture hall like a swaggering talk show host, telling students they'll never amount to anything - except her. Amy, he says, is the only one with talent. Somehow she decides Jim's a catch.

We first meet Jim as his wealthy grandfather is on his deathbed. The old man informs Jim he won't be leaving him a dime. He's on his own.

As Amy says: "You're one of those guys who started out with no problems at all, and now you have all of them." The movie's other good lines pretty much all go to John Goodman, who plays another loan shark who livens up the proceedings each time he appears.

Somehow, Jim will have to figure out how to save himself. The ending - a departure from the original - is satisfyingly creative and suspenseful.

By then, though, it feels too late.