The Gambler movie review: No superhero in this ‘superhero film’

Cast: Anson Paul, Innocent, George Emmatty, Sijoy Varghese, Joseph Annamkutty Jose
Director: Tom Emmatty

The first mistake that director Tom Emmatty made was deceiving the audience by claiming that The Gambler was Mollywood’s first superhero film — words that are as far from truth as they possibly can be. To borrow a line from the Priyadarshan film Kilukkam, Jyothiyum vannilla, theeyum vanilla. No superhero came in The Gambler till the end credits rolled by. Don’t count two blink-and-miss dream sequences, where Anson makes an appearance as a blue-suited IO Man. If those scenes were meant to justify the superhero tag for the film, then Tom needs this imaginary IO Man to save his project.   

In what can only be called as an extended promotion for a spelling app on Playstore, the film does not have much to offer. It goes through the life of Anson playing his namesake, who is struggling to make ends meet and feed his family consisting of his wife, son and his father. He is depicted as someone who has spent his well-to-do wife’s savings and money on several failed business ventures and has started yet another one, which is a branding company. His lack of financial stability drives a wedge between his wife and himself. The father-son relationship is the core of the film with several issues being dwelled on like the frustrations and challenges of a budding entrepreneur, the perils of partnership, landlord problems and even an unnecessary flood situation. In a nutshell, the story is all about how a father helps his son overcome his inability to spell through playing cards that his son is addicted to.

Anson, who has proved his mettle in films like Aadu 2 and Abrahaminte Santhathikal, does not seem convincing in this role. Tom’s son George Emmatty, who played the character of Anson’s son Franz Lasar, shows promise. Innocent and Salim Kumar do their parts well. The cinematography is good and the songs are watchable.

At this time when Avengers Endgame is still going strong in the theatres, it would be an eye-opener for the director to watch what a superhero film actually entails.