"The Gambler" is a made-for-TV Western-movie, directed by Dick Lowry in 1980.

Basic plot: Brady Hawkes (played by Kenny Rogers) is a famous poker player everybody wants to play against. On his trip to New Orleans, he gets to know about his son, who asks him in a letter to help him and his mother. Together with Billy Montana (played by Bruce Boxleitner),an avid poker gamer and a gunman, they are on the way to Hawkes' own problems; including an old enemy of Hawkes sending three assassins against him...

I just finished watching this on VHS before writing this review, this because I actually enjoyed this Western-movie. The storytelling was good, and music artist Kenny Rogers does a great performance as the famous gambler who does things with honesty. Bruce Boxleitner also does a great job as a gambler, but also a gunman.

The old VHS edition I have was released in Norway by former video distributor VIP Scandinavia AS/MDC Video during the 80s, and was rated 16. According the the video cover, this film was the most popular feature being shown on TV in USA in 1980.

For a conclusion, I wish to recommend anybody who enjoys TV-movies or Westerns to watch this movie at least once. My overall rating: 9/10.

I never expected a movie based on a song to be a masterpiece in cinema. The "made for TV category" suits this movie just fine. For a movie that aired on network television, this film is quite good. You have two stories intertwined: Brady Hawkes meeting his son and the history there and Brady's great skill as a fair and honest poker player. Billy Montana seemed a little to pretty to pass as a cowboy in the wild west, but the character's charm makes up for it. I was expecting the Jennie Reed character to be fleshed out a little more and maybe some more interaction between Brady and his son Jerimiah. For what the film is, it works well and is an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half.

This vehicle for Kenny Rogers has a warm avuncular charm. Rogers is not much of an actor, but he's mainly called upon to lend his considerable atmospheric presence to scenes in which others do (or attempt to do) the heavy lifting. And he's good at that: he doesn't chew scenery, he doesn't attempt moments of deep emotion, but his presence keeps the lightweight script from becoming an embarrassment.

The movie is unabashedly sentimental, like a good country song. Plot elements are formulaic, but successful enough, and the direction shows a sure touch, never letting the movie get either maudlin or silly.

A must-see for the Eight-Track-Tape crowd, but not a bad choice for those who just like a little unchallenging fluff now and again.