Review: The Card Counter

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William (Oscar Isaac) spent a decade in prison, and during his time there he learned to count cards. Now he spends his life traveling from one casino to the next winning just enough money to stay under the radar. One day, he meets Cirk (Tye Sheridan) who brings up something from William's past, and tries to rope him into a very high stakes scheme.

I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought it looked awful. Promising reviews came out of Venice and my local indie theater opened it right away, so why not see this on opening night? I love Oscar Isaac after all.

While this isn't as bad as the trailer made it seem, it's far from a good movie. It has all the pieces to make a compelling story, but it's very drawn out. I didn't feel like I was watching a complete film. I felt like I was watching an idea, something not fully formed and certainly no clue on how to end it. 

Isaac is good, he always is. There's a lot of questions about William and Isaac plays him in a way that you know he's holding so much in. The supporting cast doesn't fare as well. Tiffany Haddish feels very miscast as a fellow gambler who gets backers to sponsor her players. Her clunky dialogue doesn't help, but she does have a few good scenes. Tye Sheridan had a ton of potential as a young actor but he's not one to elevate bad scripts. Here, his characters motivations are never given enough time. We get the bare bones story but I kept feeling there should be more.

Director Paul Shrader is pretty hit and miss for me, and while this isn't a complete lost cause, it's nothing more than a DVD rental level film if you're interested in any of the actors.

Recommended: No

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "If you were actually there, you'd never want to hear that shit again." - William (Oscar Isaac)

Comments

  1. Often Off TopicSeptember 14, 2021 at 7:17 AM

    Ehh, I've been salty for a while because this doesn't come out in the UK till November but now I don't feel so bad about the wait. I'll watch all kinds of garbage for Oscar Isaac though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BirgitSeptember 14, 2021 at 9:43 AM

    This does not sound interesting to me. Sounds...boring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thevoid99September 14, 2021 at 5:52 PM

    I still want to see this mainly because of Paul Schrader as I'm kind of glad he's been welcome backed somewhat to the mainstream after a period of bad movies. Plus, I just want him to have a bit of commercial success as it is likely I'll wait for it on TV/streaming. It can't be worse than... The Canyons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 15, 2021 at 6:25 AM

      I never saw The Canyons, but it didn't look great lol. that piece written on Lindsay Lohan while she was filming it was pretty fascinating though.

      Delete
    2. thevoid99September 15, 2021 at 6:29 PM

      That piece said a lot about not just how spoiled and delusional Lohan was but also someone who was way out of her depth into doing a film like that and work with someone like Paul Schrader.

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 16, 2021 at 6:16 AM

      Schrader seemed like a glutton for punishment in that piece too. Like, why did you do that to yourself?

      Delete

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