THE Gambler (cert 15, 111 minutes)

SILENCE is golden for everyone except American screenwriter William Monahan.

With an Oscar on the mantelpiece for ‘The Departed’, his English language reworking of Hong Kong thriller ‘Infernal Affairs’, the Massachusetts-born scribe tries a similar feat of alchemy with this modern update of the 1974 film of the same name directed by Karel Reisz.

Alas, Monahan’s penchant for excessively wordy set-pieces proves an insurmountable distraction.

He arms the cast with polished one-liners and barbed retorts that would draw blood if his woe-begotten characters weren’t so emotionally cold and distant.

Rupert Wyatt’s film unfolds through the bloodshot eyes of a college professor whose daredevil antics at the blackjack table have left him heavily in debt to men who trade in violence.

The misery begins with Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) striding into an underground den run by one of his creditors, Mr Lee (Alvin Ing).

The night ends badly, leaving Jim with seven days to find $240,000.

He borrows $50,000 from Neville Bar-aka (Michael Kenneth Williams) and turns to his mother (Jessica Lange).

A further loan from hulking gangster Frank (John Goodman) gives Jim the collateral he needs to gamble himself back into the black.

The Gambler stakes everything on Monahan’s screenplay . . . and incurs heavy losses.