Player 5150 is a disappointing look into the perils of gambling addiction.
Ethan Embry plays a successful day trader named Joey with a gorgeous, caring, politically active wife (Kathleen Robertson). He seems to have everything going for him. Except there's one problem: he can't stop betting on football games and this addiction has gotten him into trouble with his bookie (Christopher McDonald), who, in turn, owes a substantial amount of money to his superior (Bob Gunton) and is willing to do anything necessary in order to get it from our day trader.
The film is basically a web of different people owing different people money and the lengths they go to get the money and the lengths those they owe will go to get what's theirs, including physical and psychological torture. The problem is, Player 5150 plays it very safe with the premise. As a result, it never once goes somewhere you don't expect and quickly becomes predictable to a fault.
For instance, when Joey goes to Las Vegas in order to get a loan, you instantly know that he won't be able to resist going into a casino and gambling all of it away, complete with a montage of him losing the money at the Blackjack table. Also hurting the film is that the production values are a little suspect at times. The sets look surprisingly cheap considering the decent cast assembled. Guess most of the money went to said cast instead of other areas.
What about the cast? Are they able to save the subpar material? Unfortunately, no. Embry shows one note here, the wide-eyed guy addicted and not knowing what to do about it. He never once rises above the material, giving a serviceable but bland performance. As his violent bookie, Christopher McDonald chews scenery like he is wont to do often considering he likes to play these villain roles. At least he looks like he is enjoying himself. As his girlfriend, Kelly Carlson has next to nothing to do except wearing revealing clothing and show passing affection towards him. As for Bob Gunton, he adapts McDonald's style and chews scenery, just barely hiding his contempt for the material.
Don't bother meeting Player 5150. If you do, disappointment lies ahead.
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