The Player

The father of documentary director John Appel was an ardent horse race player, which caused disquiet in the family to say the least. Shortly before he died, his father wrote him a letter which serves as the filmmaker’s point of departure for an investigation into the causes of his father’s destructive gambling mania, which he blends with the stories of several other men, alter egos of his father. Using family photos and films, Appel relates anecdotes to characterize his father and shed light on the events that led to his downfall.

In between, we meet an extremely good-humored bookie at the horse races and a compulsive liar and gambling addict in jail, where he serves a sentence for fraud for the umpteenth time while he cannot resist playing tricks even there. And we see a poker player making his tragic way from a spartan hotel room to the casino each day. In this kaleidoscopic portrait of his father, it gradually emerges just what drives the gamblers and why their addiction is so difficult to put a stop to.