In an attempt to save his nephew from his former associates, a notorious ex-Mafia hitman, Micky Justice is forced back into his old life to face his past and exorcise his personal demons. Along the way, Micky is determined to mend his broken relationship with his estranged ex-wife and daughter.

SYNOPSIS:

Consumers have always been fascinated by anti-hero characters such as Clint Eastwood’s iconic “killer of women and children” William Munny in “The Unforgiven”. Charles Bronson’s character Paul Kersey in “Death Wish” and the ensemble cast of Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” are other engrossing anti-hero characters.

Set in Detroit and written along the lines of the “The Departed” meets “The Unforgiven”, The Gambler follows our protagonist anti-hero, Micky Justice. Micky is an ex-mafia hitman that left his former life of crime after taking a bid for his boss, Joe West. Once in prison Micky finds out that Joe West has been quickly rubbed out by his enemies, namely Michael and Catherine Sorvino, making his prison sentence meaningless. Michael and Catherine then take over the Detroit underworld without having to worry about Micky’s revenge by making sure their lawyers push to keep Micky in prison without parole.

After being released from prison ten years later, Micky realizes his family has left him and all his former cohorts are now dead or in prison. Alone, Micky leaves the many temptations of the city for a slower life as a horse trainer in rural America. At that point only Micky’s sister stayed in contact. Micky would show up unannounced and most of the time heavily inebriated to ensure her and her son, Tommy were OK.

Thirty years later, Micky’s life takes an unexpected turn after his nephew, Tommy gets into trouble with Micky’s ex-mob associates. Tommy is a small time coke dealer being framed by an associate of Michael Sorvino, now the Detroit Mafia boss. Tommy has to come up with a large quantity of coke or else him and his pregnant girlfriend, Bonnie will meet an untimely demise.

Micky, always protective of his family packs his few belongings, his trusted forty-four caliber pistol along with a lot of whiskey and drives to Detroit to finish what was started forty years earlier. Along the way, Micky is able to locate his estranged wife Sharon and their daughter Elizabeth, now in her mid-forties. Initially pushed away by his family for understandable reasons, Micky focuses on his enemies that are now running Detroit’s underworld while simultaneously trying to mend his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter.

The killing spree starts off when Michael Sorvino’s lawyers are found executed on the Detroit River Front. These are the same lawyers that ensured Micky never made parole when he was in prison. Using his “calling card” by cutting off their right ears, Micky makes a big splash that he is back in town with the murders all over the newspapers.

Micky goes on a vengeance tour and runs into an old ally that is operating under the radar, who goes by the moniker “The Jew”. Along with his friend’s help, Micky is able to start picking off his enemies one at a time helping Tommy stay alive, while slowly working his way to Michael Sorvino.

Paulie is an old time Detroit Detective that is about to retire when Micky comes back in town. Paulie was the lead Detective on Micky’s case when he went to prison forty years earlier. Paulie knows Micky was innocent and is still dealing with the guilt to this day. Upon seeing bodies pop up all over the city, Paulie decides it’s time to vindicate his mistake of putting an innocent man behind bars while mending his own relationship with his estranged ex-wife and his young daughter.

Micky’s cathartic journey will force him to face his personal demons with his family, while exacting revenge on the people responsible for his mentor’s death. Will the old gunslinger make it til the end, or will his personal demons win out in his last chance at redemption?