Director Rupert Wyatt created a successful career for himself in Hollywood by taking risks. One of his most notable films is the 2011 blockbuster “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” a film that came to life through heavy use of tricky special effects which in themselves posed a huge risk to the final product.
Wyatt has once again rolled the dice with his upcoming remake of the 1974 film, “The Gambler.” This version follows Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) a literary professor as he deals with the repercussions of his gambling.
Oftentimes remakes of films serve to make the original idea more appealing to modern audiences but Wyatt said this isn’t the case with his take.
“I came with the idea that we were coming at this from a completely different angle, taking the idea of the title ‘The Gambler’ and then turning it on its head,” he said. “This is not about a guy who can’t help himself. This is actually about a guy who has (it) all and says ‘I’m not happy, I don’t want it all, so I’m just going to get rid of it all’.”
Supporting Wahlberg’s character are big name actors such as Jessica Lange and John Goodman. The experienced cast was vital to the film, as it is one coined by the director as a “character-driven film.” Written by William Monahan, the screenplay creates vibrant characters who, in Wyatt’s opinion, help carry the themes of the film at times more than Wahlberg’s own.
Monahan also does a remarkable job in balancing the seriousness of the situations Bennett is in with sarcasm and witty remarks from the others. Although the film revolves around gambling, Wyatt believes it is more universal than just that.
“The thing that I find most appealing (about gambling) is: how do we gamble with our lives? Who do we fall in love with? (What are) the jobs that we take?” he said. “All of those things you can win or lose at. Those are the choices that you make. That’s how I chose to tell the story rather than the idea of circling the drain.”
For Wyatt, directing this film was not only a learning experience but also an opportunity to channel his opinion about what movies are about and what they should be in Hollywood.
“(I want audiences to walk out with) the idea that they’d like to see more character-driven movies in Hollywood,” he said. “A lot of templates these days focus on the moments of the film rather than the film as a whole.”
“This was an interesting story about one man’s journey and I think the resonance in that is gradually migrating to cable TV,” he said. “Which I think is fantastic but there’s a sort of sadness for me in the sense that going to the cinema is what it should all be about and seeing really interesting stories play out with an audience.”