But theres no proof that were going anywhere. for language throughout, and for some sexuality/nudity, HBOs Rain Dogs Finds Humor, Despair in the Working-Class Mum at its Center, Berlinale Highlights, Part Three: Hummingbirds, Concrete Valley, Afire, The Oneness of All Things: On Sofia Alaouis Animalia, New York International Childrens Film Festival Opens Window to the World. Directed byRise of the Planet of the Apeshelmer Rupert Wyatt,The Gamblerhas a solid visual shorthand and style to it that is actually one of the better aspects of the film. He paid lamar 150 000$ (second loan from Mister Lee) for throwing a game by not winning more than 8 points. InThe Gamblerwe meet Jim Bennet (Mark Wahlberg), the son of a wealthy family and a highly intelligent literature professor/writer. Life is a game we are forced to play. Thats what makes life tough. [9], By October 17, 2013, Brie Larson was in talks to play the female lead role, alongside Wahlberg. The film was launched in 1974 and it started as a biography novel. Supporting males characters such astwo student athletes played by Emory Cohen (Place Beyond the Pines) and newcomer Anthony Kelley - or an enforcer played byThe Wire's Dominick Lombardozzi - feel even more like devices than characters, though given their small roles in the story, that's a bit more understandable. (Whether she's caught for killing her enemy is left up to the eye of the . First Dexter, an emerging tennis star; he later confronts a basketball student star, Lamar Allen, who pays no attention in class but intends to play in the NBA. It starts off with the singer being on a train along with the titular gambler. We even got episodes to understand what made Elias tick and why he became the serial killer he did. Mark Wahlberg is Jim Bennett in this remake of the 1974 James Caan film The Gambler and as directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) this version leaves the audience dumbfounded, depressed and not a little confused. Murphy, Arthur D. (October 2, 1974). The Gambler: One of the Best Movies About Gambling, 5 Gambling Movie Quotes to Live (And Bet) By. On the other side, Axel struggles with gambling addiction, becoming considerably indebted. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank, a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett's future. Only his girlfriend (Lauren Hutton) fails to seem very real. SPOILERS INCOMING. The night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression. And in his final words I found an ace that I could keep. The Gambleris now playing in theaters. Jessica Lange, as Bennetts super-rich Mom, slaps him around when he asks her for the $240,000 he needs to clean up his latest mess. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film two out of four stars, saying: "Wyatt keeps the action coming at a fast clip, but watching Jim repeatedly pursue a path of self-destruction for reasons never made clear grows wearying. It only takes a minute to sign up. Every human is a gambler on life. He then earned a Masters Degree in creative writing from The New School in NYC, where he first stumbled upon Screenrant.com when it was just a hobby blog owned by Vic Holtreman. Jim considers borrowing money from Frank (another loan shark) to consolidate his debts and buy himself some time, but refuses to do so when Frank first demands Jim admit I am not a man. The latter is no mean feat, inasmuch as ruthless movie mobsters are a dime-a-dozen in these post-'Godfather' days We know that the film is a success, because it doesn't really matter whether Axel is a winner or a loser as the film ends. win his college basketball semi-final by a margin of 7 points or less, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, "Leonardo DiCaprio Attached To 'Gambler' Remake At Paramount With Martin Scorsese", "James Toback On 'The Gambler' Remake: "Not Possible Rudeness And Disrespect", "Todd Phillips in Talks to Direct First Drama 'The Gambler' (Exclusive)", "Mark Wahlberg And Rupert Wyatt Eyeing 'The Gambler' Remake For Paramount", "Brie Larson In Talks To Join Mark Wahlberg In Paramount Remake 'The Gambler', "Mark Wahlberg Spotted on The Gambler Set", "Register now to be in 'The Gambler' with Mark Wahlberg! Also to what happened when he was mugged. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); In-depth movie review, featured posts, and advertisements. "[28], Jessica Lange's performance has received critical acclaim. Also the back of brownish strap bill seems to be more of 50$ than 5$ bill, so the stack represents 5000$. In another movie, the scene could have seemed too long, too eventless. Karel Reisz, the director of the movie, casts instead James Caan. The Gambler is a 1974 American crime drama film written by James Toback and directed by Karel Reisz. You never count your money when youre sitting at the table. At a camp, a flag is raised as a man plays a bugle. The world of the filmmight be interesting for theater or literary buffs who dig the the movie'sstyle of heightened language and philosophical pontificating - but for the average viewer, it's going to be a crude realization of misleading advertising and self-involved cerebral linguistics that are a hard and obtuse code to crack. Credit and blame follow upon the direction in which you go. You can tell something about someone, even if you cant rationally explain it. However, if the gambler bets a small amount each time, the problem becomes a little more difficult to analyze. Probability of winning using conditional probabilities Given that gambler A starts with i dollars, the probability that they win is P(W)=a. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. One who callously mistreats his mother after putting her in danger by purposefully losing even more money. I play in order to lose, he tells his bookie at one point. But we can see from the picture the amount of money, bills and currency straps placed on Roulette table. Initially, the leading role was supposed to belong to Robert De Niro. As Mister Lee, Ing delivers his lines in a smooth, ice cold fashion thats fun to watch. Nonetheless an excellent film and one I'd love to study more closely - specifically: the ending. [16][17], In August 2011, Paramount Pictures announced a remake of the 1974 film The Gambler with the original producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff. The movie follows Axels downward path with such care that you keep thinking there must be some illuminating purpose, but there isnt Mr. Reisz and Mr. Toback reportedly worked a couple of years putting the screenplay into this shape, which is lifeless. (Vincent Canby The New York Time). The screenplay gives him one note to play, which becomes tiresome as the minutes drag on. the main cast had to be pushed aside to properly explain the reason behind an abandoned . The Gambler is a 2014 American crime drama film directed by Rupert Wyatt. He owed to Frank 286 000$ (260 000 + 10% per week) and to Mister Lee 350 000$. Sometimes storming the barricades is courage; sometimes its reckless. Most of lifes dilemmas fall outside these rules. How can I check before my flight that the cloud separation requirements in VFR flight rules are met? After Ed's funeral, Jim goes to a casino. The viewers must take the film as such and pass it through the filter of the mind. This literature professor does have a self destructive streak a mile wide and is a full blown unlikeable narcissist. Freed, played by James Caan, is an ordinary man at first sight. Toback completed it in 1972 and showed it to his friend Lucy Saroyan, who introduced Toback to Robert De Niro. Inside a tent, a man tells another that a group of Apache Indians are being stirred up by Geronimo, a tribal . [22], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 144 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. His full debt before the final bet was 636 000$. Mark Wahlberg stars in a remake of "The Gambler," a 1974 film with James Caan. Watching the game from the stands with three of the mob's bookmakers, Axel is saved by the bribed player's final-minutes' point-shaving, which enables the team to win by only 6 and thus not cover a 7-point spread. He uses the $150,000 to bribe Lamar into doing the basketball point-shaving scheme. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. "The Gambler" is a very small movie, sometimes with embarrassing delusions of grandeur as when Axel quotes E. E. Cummings ("Buffalo Bill's defunct") or lectures his class on William Carlos . "It was a respect thing," Mr. Caan explained, adding that the conversation didn't end there . Acting on an offer from the mob, Axel lures one of his students, a star on the college's basketball team, to shave points in his next game, so the mob can bet big on the game to cover Axel's debt. The event W occurs when gambler A ends up with k dollars before they end up with 0 dollars. Copyright 2023 | We Support Phalanx Family Services & St Agatha Catholic Church, Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Powered by Frackle Media, The Gambler: Mark Wahlberg Leaves Audience Dumbfounded and Depressed, Roman Polanski Continues to Leap Through Legal Loopholes, The Imitation Game Benedict Cumberbatch is Quirky British Hero (Review), An Important Message, and a Warning to My Christian Friends, Walmarts in Portland Oregon to Close Permanently. Along the way, while taking money from his mother and getting further in debt by getting a loan from Frank (John Goodman). Reviewed by Kaja Perina. A 19-year-old home-security entrepreneur, Dakota (Henry Hunter Hall), allows himself to be seduced by Ellie. Axel finds nothing in 1974 to test himself against, however. In the end,The Gambleris pretty much a misfire of concept - even if it makes the admirable move of going for a different thematic angleon the original material. Like the original film, Wahlbergs gambler is a academic figure, a professor who teaches literature at an unidentified Los Angeles college. The highly-anticipated third season murder mystery was introduced in "Frenemies: Chapter One - The Murder," the first episode of the new season of Stargirl. Even though the movie didn't stray too far from Bloom's own experiences, that doesn't mean it didn't alter or leave out a few key details. The old man is respectable now (he owns a chain of furniture stores), but the legend of his youth fascinates Axel, who recites it poetically at the eightieth-birthday party. No, season 3 ends with one more bang back at Eureka. It doesn't help that Wahlberg seems grossly out of place in the central role. vegan) just to try it, does this inconvenience the caterers and staff? This is supposed to be some kind of fable-slash-parable. Axel Freed is an English professor in New York City with a gambling addiction that begins to spiral out of control. It was all about the condition called coconut heart. [17], The Gambler had its world premiere during the 2014 AFI Fest at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on November 10. Im not going to lose it. frontman's partner in his previous band, The Format. The evolution of the action makes you think that in the end, the screenings conclusion will reveal a long-awaited moral. So he has a 0.5 chance of going broke before doubling his money. it began with a Neil Diamond [] He showed the script to his literary agent who gave it to Mike Medavoy who attached director Karel Reisz. Your parents didn't give you a bad hand; it's good in some ways and can be improved in others. The remake, starring Mark Wahlberg as the title character, premiered on November 10, 2014, at the AFI Fest,[5] and was theatrically released in the United States on December 25, 2014. The student accepts Axel's offer of $5,000 for the illicit play. Wahlberg stars as Jim Bennett, who bailed on literature after one novel and now teaches at an unnamed Los Angeles college. The only time his character. Axel Freed, as played by James Caan, is himself a totally convincing personality, and original. Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. [19], Scorsese left the project and filmmaker Todd Phillips was in talks to take over as of August 2012.[20]. Redoing the align environment with a specific formatting. "[15], The film holds a score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews. Since his time at Screen Rant, Kofi has continued to work in entertainment journalism - joining comicbook.com as Sr. Editor of Original Content. And the best that you can hope for, is to die in your sleep. If the gambler walks in and places a bet for the entire amount of money, the problem is easy. The only time his character stops his mindless drive to self destruct through gambling is when the student he is sleeping with is threatened. Caan says the film is one of his favorites. James Toback, "A Hollywood Mis-Education", "Screen: Professor Bucks Odds in 'The Gambler':Caan, in the Title Role, Fights Compulsion", "Leonardo DiCaprio Attached To 'Gambler' Remake At Paramount With Martin Scorsese", "James Toback On 'The Gambler' Remake: "Not Possible Rudeness And Disrespect", "Todd Phillips in Talks to Direct First Drama 'The Gambler' (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter", "Mark Wahlberg And Rupert Wyatt Eyeing 'The Gambler' Remake For Paramount", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Gambler_(1974_film)&oldid=1140914613, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 11:47. Director Rupert Wyatt Writers William Monahan (screenplay) The Gambler opens December 25, prepare to be somewhat impressed and confused by this remake. Bennett borrows money from each of them, and since hes originally indebted to Lees casino, Lees loans are akin to borrowing from Peter to pay Peter. Our lives are practice sessions, repeated forever, as we learn to play the game right. And somewhere in the darkness, the gambler he broke even. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Who in Washington Will Earn Respect and Trust. . But for Jim, being behind the eight ball is not a hell, but rather a state of grace. Schlitz, a 23-year-old unknown songwriter, later associated the song with getting advice from his father, who had died two years earlier. Gambling is too easy a metaphor for life; as metaphor, it belongs to the world of hardboiled fiction. However, the double life he lives makes him go through many tense moments. But amidst their boredom, the gambler sparks a conversation with him. Canby, Vincent (October 3, 1974). Does a summoned creature play immediately after being summoned by a ready action? Criminal Minds: Evolution brought us a season-long arc of trying to capture Elias Voit. He identifies her as a potential writing prodigy based on her work in his class, as well as having previously encountered her working secretly as a waitress at the underground gambling house. He gives the details of his gambling problem and threats against him and his family if he doesn't pay. He said if youre gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. But Reisz sustains them, and makes them all the more real because he doesnt populate the rest of his movie with stock characters. The image is an example of a ticket confirmation email that AMC sent you when you purchased your ticket. This movie should be about them. [21] The film was released on December 25, 2014. Or you just want to sit in pjs all day? His full debt before the final bet was 636 000$. Of course, whenever Wahlberg is called on to crack wise or play tough in face of threat, the actor hits the sweet spot of his trademarkpersona. How is an ETF fee calculated in a trade that ends in less than a year? He brings with him famous movie stars Guy Dexter (who takes a liking to . The movie is separated into 6 stories, each with its own thought-provoking and brutal ending: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs , Near Algodones, Meal Ticket , All Gold Canyon , The Gal Who Got Rattled, and The Mortal Remains. Dont be greedy. Mutually exclusive execution using std::atomic? Jim expresses his extremist view on achieving excellence in one's field or vocation: if you can't be exemplary, he reasons, then you might as well not try. Serpentspeaks on March 29, 2016 Link Wait, until the right decision becomes clear to you. Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving, Is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep, 'Cause every hands a winner, and every hands a loser. The episode may not have confirmed that, but it is titled "The Murder" and it is the launch of the season's murder mystery. The Front Man explains to the VIPs that Squid Game was the most physical and violent game among Korean kids, and it lives up to the description, with the former childhood friends fighting to the . Goodman plays his entire role topless, and turns the F-word into poetry. The story . Online gambling comes with no dress code, so no worries about this either. "[14] Filmink said the film was "peak 70s Caan with the star at his swaggering charming curly haired best. Jim sends Dexter to Las Vegas to bet on the game with the $260,000 he got from Frank. In these mini-movies, they become the stars and the lead becomes an extra. Maybe you want to do it while sipping a glass of wine, or while eating some pizza, this can all be done with online gaming. Reisz did not want to use De Niro and cast James Caan instead. The Royal Gambler combines varied themes together with gambling, a battle for the throne and a hero with abandonment issues tightly written into a story set in historical Joseon. Don't think Manifest would just leave us with Grace's death and Cal's return and call it a season. For everything, we enjoy doing or we find worth splashing our Over the years, many movies have had a strong gambling theme and some of the best films produced were based on gambling or have taken place in casinos. "They went to their switching defense. The pimp, thinking Axel crazy, backs off, and Axel repeatedly punches him, knocks him to the floor, and kicks him over and over. Is there a single-word adjective for "having exceptionally strong moral principles"? The opening montage shows life in Blue Valley following Eclipso's defeat. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Margarete Brown (Gennie Nevinson) is an elderly woman who finds companionship in Peter (Daniel Mitchell), a widower. Old Medication, New Use: Can Prazosin Curb Drinking? Having subsequently won $12,000 on a fixed Laker-game gift from another gambler and paid it to the bookmaker, Axel is abducted by associates of the latter. Thats success. ultimately ending in a standoff. [20], On October 22, 2014, the first teaser poster and red band trailer were released. Both of those works were very plainly. The Gambler is a 1974 American crime drama film written by James Toback and directed by Karel Reisz. Many other reasons make betting on the Internet better. He ends up owing $200,000 to Lee, the proprietor of an exclusive, high-stakes underground gambling ring, and another $50,000 to Neville Baraka, a loan shark. Bennetts turnaround makes no sense as there is not enough time spent proving that the two are more than a short lustful dalliance. in writing and film studies. You need to know what to change, and what to keep the same. Technically, yes: Murphy does go to jail in In the Dark season 4. You're bored. Caan's performance was widely lauded and was nominated for a Golden Globe. He tells them that only Amy Phillips, a quiet student, is capable of a career in literature. [2] It was filmed at a time when leading actor James Caan was battling his own addiction to cocaine. Nowhere may be the destination. ym He has to find his own dangers, to court and seduce them. Jim Bennett is a published author who has given up writing to teach it, or rather to discourage others from participating as writers. Refueling the Clone Conspiracy. TheGambler refuses to acknowledge that Bennett has a gambling addiction. The Meaning Behind The Lyrics "The Gambler" song is about strangers on a train that carries out a conversation about poker. Its too in love with his cocky, unflappable arrogance in the face of danger. One who callously mistreats his mother after putting her in danger by purposefully losing even more money. Langes over-the-top chastising scene would shame Joan Crawford, but she goes to the bank to get Bennett the money anyway. "[29] The Huffington Post described her performance as "ferocious" and capable of "knocking down William Monahan's profanity laced dialogue with gleeful abandon"[30] Also, the Boston Herald described her work as "strikingly memorable",[31] which Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Indiewire have agreed with, terming her "affecting", "stirring", and "terrific". "[10] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared it "a cool, hard, perfectly cut gem of a movie, as brilliant and mysteriously deep as a fine diamond. In fact, the only character that actually resonates in the film is Goodmans Frank. In the end, if you succeed, youll stay healthy, live long, get old, not get a serious disease, and fade away gradually. Success usually grows out of failure, if it happens at all. We need to learn the best way to play. Having set that up, Axel visits his grandfather, who, near the end of their conversation, asks if Axel needs his help. But Reisz, Caan, and screenwriter James Toback have constructed the character and the movie so convincingly that the scene not only works, but works two ways: first as suspense, and then as character revelation. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Gambler_(2014_film)&oldid=1133480880, Films with screenplays by William Monahan, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 00:55. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. PostedMay 12, 2020 The 100 000$ extra money, that Jim leaves for Mister Lee and Frank on Roulette table may not be intentional, because previous to final bet he offered 50 000$ to Dexter for making a trip to Vegas and placing a bet on Lamar's game, but Dexter declined it. Continue with Recommended Cookies, By Jim not only accepts but desires his fate;for him, existenceboilsdown to one biggame of chance, and it's best to be all-in. At a ghetto bar, Axel meets a prostitute, and they go to an upstairs room of a hotel. We then see a group of American Indians on horseback as the credits roll. "Film Reviews: The Gambler". With three solid performances, the stakes remain high, and the payout out the end is understandable(if not impactful). Caans character was memorable because one sensed that his film might do something awful to him, or worse, that his character might self-destruct and harm himself. Sometimes the right thing is to do nothing. Dont count your awards and seek more. The probability that this event occurs can be derived using properties of conditional probability. And, as almost always happens when a movie is predictable and everything is analyzed and labelled, the actions and the explanations aren't convincing. The way Axel solves his problem is only fairly difficult. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother in his wake. Theyre standing in the kitchen of a New York apartment, and gray dawn is seeping through the smoke. Bleeding from his facial wound, Axel staggers down the stairs, looks at himself in a mirror, and smiles enigmatically at his slashed cheek. How can we prove that the supernatural or paranormal doesn't exist? HBOs Rain Dogs Finds Humor, Despair in the Working-Class Mum at its Center, Berlinale Highlights, Part Three: Hummingbirds, Concrete Valley, Afire, The Oneness of All Things: On Sofia Alaouis Animalia, New York International Childrens Film Festival Opens Window to the World. Paul Sorvino gives an especially convincing performance, as does James Caan. His mother Naomi (Jacqueline Brooks) is a competent, independent person who gives him the money because she fears for his life, and yet understands that his problem is deeper than gambling. If understood as counsel about life, the general advice of the song isnt straightforward. He teaches Dostoyevski, William Carlos Williams, Thoreau. The Gambler is one of the best gambling movies ever made. Bennetts mother, Roberta (played by Jessica Lange) is estranged from her son and has presumably gotten all the money her boy missed out on. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnairehere. Manage Settings He said: Son Ive made a life out of reading peoples faces, Knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes, So if you dont my saying, I can see youre out of aces. Frank lends him $260,000 to pay his debt to Lee, but also threatens to kill everyone in Jim's personal life if he is not repaid. Jack is a director of silent films, and his newest project The Gambler will be set at Downton Abbey. Toback became enthused about the possibility of De Niro playing the lead. Mark Wahlbergs gambler seems more addicted to his own philosophy of all or nothing at all which leaves the audience dumbfounded and depressed. We saw the reappearance of The Gambler (Eric Goins) a prior Injustice Society antagonist. Dont pause to measure your riches, to see how much you have. Intended as a directorial project for Martin Scorsese, it was reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was attached as the star and William Monahan would write the screenplay. Its out of my hands, his pal Hips explains. His grandfather came to America flat broke, fought and killed to establish himself, and still is a man of enormous vitality at the age of eighty. He killed the guy in self defence. Will Bennett risk his life for a second chance? They enforce more in sorrow than in anger. Did You Know Anxiety Can Enhance Our Relationships? Nate Ruess originally wrote this with Sam Means, the fun. In the 1974 film, Caans Axel Freed has a girlfriend at the start and Wahlbergs Bennett does not, there are other things that set the two films apart but they both tell essentially the same story, just 40 years apart. It feels like the studio thought the ending should not make sense. Do I need a thermal expansion tank if I already have a pressure tank? It tries justifying Bennetts actions by tying them to the existential works he teaches in his college literature class. [38] Indiewire suggested Lange as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[39]. best casino pools san diego,. And thats how Karel Reiszs The Gambler begins: with a problem. Every so often, one of the three shows up to inquire abouttheir money, and theyre always one step ahead of Bennett. It turned out as a good choice. Schlitz's father had died two years before. Now the problem is, that we do not know what was the exact bet at Roulette wheel, because we do not know how much he won from betting at Lamars game. Most effective of the trio is Williams, whose Neville serves as a charming mentor to Bennett without losing the dangerous Black man edge that Tobacks earlier films liked to fetishize. In the end, he decided to turn the book into a screenplay. In a movie billed as an action-thriller, viewers may not be trying to interpret what the positioning of the characters, arrangement of a room, or the lighting therein says about a character's internal narrative or backstory. The website's critics consensus reads: "Well-paced and reasonably entertaining in its own right, The Gambler still suffers from comparisons to the James Caan classic that inspired it. All of life is about decisions, for which outcomes are unknown. Written By. Your email address will not be published. Arnold, Gary (October 17, 1974). People rant and rave at Bennett, calling him on the carpet for numerous offenses and mistakes as a means of teaching him a valuable lesson. He needs to lose, to feel risk, to place himself in danger. Jim singles out exemplary athletes in his class for discussion. The audience never really get the feeling that he cannot pass up a chance to gamble, it feels more like the means to an end, not his literal end, but his pursuit of the big win or an adrenaline rush. Ed asks Jim what he'll be worth in this world when he's leaving him with nothing. In that class is Amy (Brie Larson, so great in Short Term 12), whose character description sounds like it fell out of a filing cabinet at New World Pictures: College student by day, cocktail waitress in illegal gambling den by night. In August 2011, Paramount Pictures announced a remake of the 1974 film The Gambler with the original producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff. My code is GPL licensed, can I issue a license to have my code be distributed in a specific MIT licensed project? We become so absolutely contained by Axels problems and dangers that they seem like our own.