By Geno McGahee
On March 24th, DEADLY GAMBLE comes to Cable VOD (Comcast, Dish, Verizon and Cox Cable), and when it comes to movies about the pitfalls of gambling, few capture it as well as the thriller called “DEADLY GAMBLE.” New Jersey filmmaker, Mario Cerrito, takes on the subject directly and without apologies. In the vein of films like ROUNDERS, DEADLY GAMBLE covers the darker side of gambling. The wild atmosphere and excitement of a casino can be felt by all and even those that win big at home thanks to supercasinosites.com and other online casinos. Well beyond the lights of Atlantic City and Las Vegas is an underworld that is eager to let you play but you’re going to eventually have to pay.
Andrew Cain (Bernard Glincosky) has what many would consider the ideal life. He has a nice house and a loving and super attractive wife, Heather (Lyssa Roberts). Underneath the illusion of happiness is a demon that has attached itself to Andrew’s soul. He desperately wants to make big money at the poker tables and is convinced he can do it. That’s when he makes a deal with Russian mobster, Viktor (Manny Mertis), and before he knows it, he is in serious debt to the tune of seventy-five grand. Viktor is not a man to toy with and he will soon discover that fact.
Andrew now has his heavy threat hanging over his head and he is trying to maintain normalcy in the household. When Heather reminds him that they need to get a new vehicle, he tries to persuade her that they don’t, but eventually relents and goes to the dealer, where they meet up with Frank (John DiRenzo), and he is your typical car salesman, but there may be more than meets the eye.
After a loan from his mother, Andrew returns to the tables to try to make things right and it becomes one of those movie moments where you just shake your head. Considering Viktor has threatened his entire family, there is a lot on the line and it’s easy to feel for Andrew, but to also hate him to a certain degree. How can you be that stupid!!!
The devil comes for his due and it leads to a great climax along with a few surprises here and there. Mario Cerrito paints a great picture of what gambling can do if not handled with responsibility, and there is a very real feel about DEADLY GAMBLE.
The spine of a film is the screenplay and DEADLY GAMBLE soars in this department. Cerrito puts together a street-real dialogue-driven story and compliments it by filming it well and casting it as good as possible. Bernard Glincosky has star potential. He’s got a very unique look and delivery and I found him very believable in the role. You like him and hate him at the same time. Lyssa Roberts is a knockout with skill and screen presence. She deserves great credit for being more than a pretty face. Manny Mertis is legitimately scary in this one and proves to be the perfect actor for the role, and I should also mention, John DiRenzo. He shined in this and showed a lot of versatility. DiRenzo has now moved on to be a player in the new Sylvester Stallone movie “CREED.”
DEADLY GAMBLE will be released by Cinema Epoch and will hit cable VOD on March 24th. If you like movies like ROUNDERS or mob movies, this is worth a watch, but it also serves another purpose. For those with gambling addictions, I could see this film proving to be a strong warning.
I highly recommend this film and look forward to see what Cerrito has in store for us next.
These movies are all based on land-based casinos. Today, online casinos are growing rapidly and the UK is the country that gambles most online per capita. To exclude yourself from online casinos you can use Gamstop. This will cover you from most casinos, except any casino not on Gamstop. For landbased self-exclusion please check the SENSE system.
Rating: 8/10
