Spieler ohne Skrupel (1974)

Spieler ohne Skrupel: Directed by Karel Reisz. With James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Morris Carnovsky. Axel Freed is a literature professor. He has the gambling vice. When he has lost all of his money, he borrows from his girlfriend, then his mother, and finally some bad guys that chase him. Despite all of this, he cannot stop gambling.

“Sometimes he wins; but mostly he loses. Gambling is an addiction for Axel Freed (James Caan), a professor of English literature and lover of classical music. The film is set in New York City.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe object of the obsession can be almost anything on which a bet is placed: dice, cards, a basketball game, a college football match. It really doesnu0026#39;t matter. Axel just canu0026#39;t keep from making bets. Heu0026#39;s like two different people. In a classroom setting, he is logical and intelligent. But when betting, he throws away the logic in favor of risk taking. In these situations he seems to lack the normal psychological u0026quot;brakesu0026quot; that could be applied to his destructive over-betting. In his own words: u0026quot;I like the threat of losingu0026quot;. And always in the background are the thugs and the con men that lord over Axel, when he borrows to gamble, but canu0026#39;t pay his debt.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome of Axelu0026#39;s classroom lectures have real thematic value. The ideas relate both to him, and incidentally to some modern-day politicians. For example, a person u0026quot;… claims an idea is true because he wants it to be true, because he says itu0026#39;s true. And the issue isnu0026#39;t whether heu0026#39;s right, but whether he has the will to believe heu0026#39;s right, no matter how many proofs there are that say heu0026#39;s wrongu0026quot;. Axel continues: u0026quot;D.H. Lawrence says Americans fear new experience more than they fear anything. They are the worldu0026#39;s greatest dodgers, because they dodge their own very selvesu0026quot;. Heavy stuff.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite a disappointing ending, u0026quot;The Gambleru0026quot; is an interesting character study of a personality type that is all too prevalent in modern society. The filmu0026#39;s color cinematography is generally dark, in keeping with the filmu0026#39;s theme. Overall acting is fine. Paul Sorvino gives an especially convincing performance, as does James Caan. The plot proceeds rather slowly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMostly, the film has terrific thematic value. It encourages the viewer to pause and reflect, to ponder, to question oneu0026#39;s own motivations. That is a trait lacking in many current movies.”