Nick Wild is a chaperone in Las Vegas, a job he describes as a bodyguard with a different name. He takes odd jobs to pay off his gambling debts, and he has a rule: never bet against himself. That rule gets tested fast in Wild Card, a 2015 action thriller that trades on Jason Statham’s reputation for violent set pieces and a script that never quite figures out what it wants to be.
The film is based on William Goldman’s 1985 novel Heat, and it is a remake of the 1986 version that starred Burt Reynolds. Simon West directs, and the cast includes Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Dominik Garcia, Anne Heche, Sofia Vergara and Stanley Tucci. The movie ran 92 minutes and was released in the United States on January 30, 2015, in a limited release and through video on demand.
Trailer, via VVS Films.
Nick Wild’s Problem
The setup is simple. Nick helps a client impress a woman, and then he agrees to show a young man named Cyrus Kinnick around Vegas while he gambles. Along the way, Nick’s waitress friend Roxy hands him a message from a woman he knows, Holly, who wants him to stop by her house. Holly is a professional escort, and she tells Nick about a brutal attack she suffered at the Golden Nugget.
She was raped and beaten by three unknown men in their hotel room, and she wants Nick to find out who they are so she can sue them. Nick discovers that the man responsible is Danny DeMarco, a gangster who had two of his thugs dump Holly in a hospital parking lot. The confrontation at the hotel is where the film tries to establish Nick as a force, tying up DeMarco and his men after a fight.
Holly’s Revenge
Holly considers castrating DeMarco, who breaks down and begs forgiveness. Instead, she takes $50,000 from DeMarco’s desk and leaves. She splits the money with Nick and disappears from Las Vegas. The revenge plot is thin, and it exists mostly to get Nick back into the casino with a reason to win.
The Big Win
Nick takes Cyrus to a casino and plays blackjack with a dealer friend named Cassandra. He goes on a huge winning streak, amassing over a half a million dollars. Then he has a sudden anxiety attack at the cashier and decides to keep gambling. He loses all his winnings, plus his original $25,000, on a single blackjack bet with Cassandra.
The twist is that Nick has a gambling problem, and the film spends the whole first act establishing that fact. The irony is supposed to land hard. It doesn’t.
Cyrus Kinnick
Cyrus is a self-made millionaire who wants Nick to mentor him on being brave. Nick declines. The relationship between the two men is the film’s emotional core, and it is also the weakest link. Cyrus is introduced as a young man with money, and the film never explains why he needs Nick’s help. That gap in the storytelling means the film never gives viewers a clear sense of what is at stake for Cyrus, which undercuts the emotional weight of their scenes together.
DeMarco’s Men
DeMarco’s men arrive at the bar to deliver Nick to DeMarco, but the scene is interrupted before it can resolve. The threat is established, but the resolution is left hanging. This leaves the audience wondering whether DeMarco will come after Nick next, and the film never answers that question.
What Works
Statham is a physical presence, and the fight scenes are well staged. The casino sequences move quickly, and the tension of Nick’s winning streak is genuinely engaging. The film knows how to build suspense in a confined space, even when the story around it falls apart.
What Doesn’t Work
The script is where the film stumbles. The revenge plot against DeMarco is a setup without a payoff. Holly’s attack is brutal, but the film does not linger on it, and her split with Nick feels rushed. The comedy is uneven, and the jokes about Nick’s gambling problem land inconsistently. The tagline promises a killer hand, but the film never quite delivers the stakes to justify that promise.
The Numbers
- Title: Wild Card (2015)
- Director: Simon West
- Writer: William Goldman (based on his novel Heat)
- Stars: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Sofia Vergara
- Runtime: 92 minutes
- Release: January 30, 2015 (limited release and video on demand)
- Budget: $30 million
- Box office: $6.7 million worldwide
Final Word
Wild Card is a film that knows how to stage a casino but does not know how to build a story around it. The performances are competent, the action is watchable, and the premise is better than the execution. It is a remake of a Burt Reynolds classic, and it fails to capture the same energy. The film is a box-office bomb, and it reads as a missed opportunity.
Score: 4 out of 10.
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