The Card Counter (2021).

“I never imagined myself as someone suited to incarceration.”

Directed by Paul Schrader

Written by Paul Schrader

Starring Oscar Issac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and some cards here and there

The Stage.

Fresh out of prison, William Tell hits Atlantic City. In the clink, he learned how to count cards, and he’s working casinos for small purses in order to stay under the radar. Bet small, lose small is his motto. When he meets La Linda, a gambling stable runner and Cirk, a lost young man with an abusive past, Tell starts down a path that could lead to redemption or a much darker place.

The Review.

First Reformed was a very interesting film that has definitely stuck with me and his past scripts like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are considered some of the best films of all time, so I’m always up for a new Paul Schrader film.

I’ll start with the best thing about The Card Counter - Oscar Issac. Issac is such a talented actor and he really conveys so much with his facial expressions alone. He’s fantastic here as the tortured William Tell, a man who never thought he would be conducive to a life behind bars, but now finds himself as a fish out of water faced with the freedom of the outside world. Upon entering a seedy motel room, he efficiently strips the space of anything resembling a ‘home’ and wraps everything in white sheets for a sterile, cold environment. Tye Sheridan plays Cirk, a man on a mission of revenge. He’s also an extremely talented actor and plays well against Issac as a kid along for the ride. Tiffany Haddish, the third part of this trio, just doesn’t have the acting chops to keep up. It always just feels like she’s acting, and being matched up with a master like Issac doesn’t do her any favors. She’s traditionally been typecast as the loud, hilarious part, but here’s she very subdued. Her best moment comes when there’s a bit of disappointment regarding her relationship status with Tell. Schrader mainstay Willem Dafoe is here as well, although he’s on screen for all of three minutes and probably shot his scenes in one day.

Acting aside, I hate to say this, but Schrader’s script and direction seemed kind of weak. I noticed it right in the beginning, as we see some visual overlays on the screen during a game of blackjack and they seemed so plain and boring. I know there’s a better way to show the nuances of a blackjack game on screen. It also seemed a bit weird that the titular card counting didn’t really even come into play past the first twenty minutes, as the rest of the film is centered around poker, in which you’re playing against other players instead of the house.

Cirk offers a chance at redemption for Tell. He takes the young man on the road, from casino to casino in a bid to preoccupy his mind so that he lets go of his thirst for revenge. I thought that part of the film was pretty interesting, even if the relationship didn’t seem quite strong enough to go where the film forced it to in the climax. La Linda and her competing storyline - her attempt to get William into more high profile games, was uninteresting and even completely unnecessary. If her character never entered the frame, it wouldn’t have really made any difference and it would have allowed William to form a greater bond with Cirk. A side plot seemingly pitting William against an annoying Ukrainian poker player dressed in over-the-top United States garb goes nowhere, although I assume that’s the point based on Tell’s experience as a small cog in America’s brutal war machine.

The End.

Despite a powerhouse performance by Oscar Issac, The Card Counter is a tale as forgettable and as unremarkable as a stroll through the casinos in the film are. Haddish feels like she’s in a completely different film, the climax of the movie is confusing in both how it’s shot and what it’s purpose was, and when the credits roll, you realize that none of the characters grew in any meaningful way. It’s a morose character study that has little to do with the card game backdrop, and although I can see some of the reviews are polarizing, I can’t recommend this film when there are so many other better things you can be watching. If you like Oscar Issac, go check out A Most Violent Year instead.