Though I had not previously heard of this movie "The Gambler", I found it a very pleasant surprise as a late night TV movie. It told the story of a Russian author & portrayed some of the characters significant to his life & writings, & that his secretary Anna, who was penning his manuscript for him. I do not know how close to Dostoyevsky's real life this setting was, but I do know that he was jailed as a political activist in his youth, flung in with the struggles & downtrodden lives of anyone from petty criminals to hardened murderers, in extremely oppressive jails that were often a source for the characters in his novels.
This movie does an admirable job of portraying the addictive aspect of gambling, tempting & drawing the characters as well as the viewer, into the world of casinos frequently by the rich, the curious & the desperate. But just as intriguing is the secondary plot of this movie, which looks in the complexities of relationships of some of the characters involved in the gambling & how easily it escalates beyond the imagination of those partaking in such thrills. Amidst all this, we gain a glimpse into the underlying passions, the romance, the ambiguous motives, even of Dostoyevsky & this young lady presented as of much more ethical substance than one who'd governed Dostoyevsky's heart from his youth.
I thought the acting is also very good, both from Michael Gambon as the author & Jodhi May as Anna, his pen. The street & casino settings are likewise impressive. All in all, "The Gambler" is a worthy detour for a couple of hours, into the lives of the protagonists & those they portray.
