A&E | screen film
A losing hand The Gambler is an inferior remake
> witchy woman Streep prowls the fairy-tale forest.
film
Half a show Into the Woods gets its stage adaptation only partly right By Mike D’Angelo of course, by Little Red Riding Hood (Crawford), on When Tim Burton adapted Stephen Sondheim’s her way to grandmother’s house. They also need to musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street secure hair as yellow as corn, for which Rapunzel a few years back, he cast his favorite actors (Johnny (Mauzy) will come in handy; a cow as white as milk, Depp, Helena Bonham Carter) in the lead roles, without conveniently being led to market by Jack (Daniel giving much consideration to their ability to sing the Huttlestone) of beanstalk fame; and a slipparts. The result was by no means disastrous, per as pure as gold, available on the feet but it’s still a relief that Into the Woods, the of Cinderella (Kendrick). Director Rob latest Sondheim adaptation, finds a better aaacc Marshall (Chicago) keeps these multiple balance between big-name celebrities and INTO THE threads humming along, and Blunt, surprispeople who can do full justice to the songs. WOODS James ingly, proves herself the film’s MVP, digging Depp is present again (in what amounts to a Corden, Anna deep into the baker’s wife’s yearning. cameo), and the plum role of the witch has Kendrick, Emily Alas, Act 2 has been gutted—apparently been given to so-so chanteuse Meryl Streep, Blunt, Meryl by James Lapine himself, who wrote the but musical-theater vets like Anna Kendrick, Streep. Directed book for the stage production and is credLilla Crawford and Mackenzie Mauzy fill out by Rob Marshall. ited with the screenplay. Half the songs much of the ensemble, occasionally creatRated PG. Now have been cut, including the crucial seconding the illusion that you’re watching a fullplaying. act prologue, which reveals what a drag fledged Broadway musical. “happily ever after” has become for the Act 1 of the stage production remains characters. (When Streep’s witch sings the rousing largely intact, as various fairy-tale characters ven“Last Midnight,” it means little, because three previture—well, into the woods, for a variety of different ous “midnight” songs are never heard.) One character reasons. The baker (James Corden) and his wife who died tragically onstage now just sort of disap(Emily Blunt) have been tasked by the witch with pears, as if completely forgotten. Everything feels finding four objects; should they succeed, the witch rushed and haphazard. If you’re gonna film the show, will lift a curse she placed on the baker’s family long film the show. ago. On the list: a cape as red as blood, which is worn,
62 LasVegasWeekly.com December 25, 2014–January 7, 2015
If Hollywood studios are going to insist on churning out remakes, they might as well stick with movies like The Gambler, a solid but not spectacular 1974 drama starring James Caan as a college professor with a serious gambling addiction. It’s neither an acclaimed classic nor a beloved fan favorite, and there’s no reason it couldn’t be updated and recontextualized. Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and screenwriter William Monahan (The aabcc Departed) don’t quite THE know how to refresh the GAMBLER material, though, updatMark Wahlberg, ing the setting to the Brie Larson, present day but trying to Michael K. replicate the feel of bold Williams. ’70s cinema in a way that Directed by mostly comes off as false Rupert Wyatt. and empty. Rated R. Now The other problem is playing. that star Mark Wahlberg is utterly unconvincing as a college professor (and, in this version, also a promising novelist). He makes grandiose speeches to his dumbstruck students (and even sleeps with one of them, played by the great but underused Brie Larson) but never sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. Even experienced supporting actors John Goodman and Michael K. Williams, as two of the scary men Wahlberg’s Jim Bennett owes money to, have trouble with Monahan’s overly verbose script. Wyatt shows his Martin Scorsese influence by saturating the soundtrack with rock and pop songs, but they only serve to distract from the story’s lack of depth. Caan’s Axel Freed was a tragic, self-destructive addict, but Jim Bennett is just an inconsiderate jerk with no inner life. Like Jim, the movie is all swagger and no follow-through. –Josh Bell