LUCK BE A LADY TONIGHT: Professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) compulsively returns to the casino in the vain hope of winning more money than he loses. Unfortunately he finds himself falling deeper and deeper in debt. Finally, the casino owner, who is a mobster gives him a deadline to repay the debt, or else. (Photo by Claire Folger — © 2014 Paramount Pictures, All Rights Reserved)

By day, Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is an English literature professor whose questionable teaching method involves berating his students by suggesting that none of them will ever amount to anything. He reserves all his praise for the only person in the class who exhibits any promise of being a writer — the brilliant, beautiful, but modest, Amy Phillips (Brie Larson).

Amy also works part-time at a gambling casino that her teacher frequents. Sadly, Jim is a high roller in need of Gambler’s Anonymous who has forgotten that the odds are in favor of the house, so that the more you play, the more you lose.

Compulsively, Professor Bennett pushes his luck at Black Jack and Roulette and loses more than he could ever afford to repay. He eventually finds himself $250,000 in debt to Mr. Lee (Alvin Ing), the casino owner who has extended a long line of credit to Bennett.

After being told that he had seven days to pay off the I.O.U. before having his kneecaps broken by Lee’s goons, Jim approaches everyone from his mother (Jessica Lange) to a loan shark (Michael Kenneth Williams) and to a mobster (John Goodman) for an emergency loan. Unfortunately, rather than paying off his debt with the cash he’s borrowed, Jim heads right back to the casino tables.

The Gambler is a remake loosely based on the 1974 movie that starred James Caan. Mark Wahlberg deftly handles the title role in this witty overhaul of the original thanks to a well crafted screenplay by Oscar winner William Monahan (The Departed).

The movie describes the gradual slide into depravity of an unrepentant loser in denial. Along the way, Jim is helped by several of his students, including Amy, basketball All-American Lamar (Anthony Kelley), and tennis prodigy Dexter (Emory Cohen). The only question is whether Bennett will be able to pull out of the downward spiral before crashing and burning.

The film unfolds against a variety of Los Angeles locales ranging from the seamy to the posh, and is helped by an appropriate soundtrack. Director Rupert Wyatt’s (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) was helped by the supporting cast featuring Oscar winners George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke) and Jessica Lange (Tootsie and Blue Sky), as well as John Goodman, Leland Orser, and Michael Kenneth Williams.

Very Good (***). Rated R for sexuality, nudity, and pervasive profanity. Running time: 101 minutes. Distributor: Paramount Pictures.