The Card Counter (2021)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on September 4, 2021 @ tonymacklin.net.

Who is the audience for The Card Counter?

It's not for the general public.

It doesn't seem that it's for gamblers. A character like the gambler Mr. USA is cartoonish, and the conflict between him and William (Oscar Isaac) is minimal. If they wanted an actual cartoonish figure they could have cast "Poker Brat" Phil Hellmuth.

Perhaps the film is for the more than 20 producers who are credited with Marty Scorsese.

Director Paul Schrader, who also wrote the film, is usually provocative and credible. Not this time. He depends on suspension of disbelief, but doesn't earn it.

The Card Counter is the story of William Tell, a former black ops interrogator who went through brutal torture and also gave it out. He is haunted by his past, and plays cards professionally to attempt to recover a steady, ordered life.

When William attends a speech by his former mentor of malice, Major John Gordo (William DaFoe), he meets Cirk (Tye Sheridan), a young man in the audience. Cirk makes an effort to connect with him. Cirk has plans to take revenge on Gordo, who he thinks destroyed his father.

Why William connects with Cirk is dubious. He seems to be moved by the young man, and makes efforts to help him. But there's no authenticity. The relationship is shaky. William becomes very committed to the idea of the young man reaching out to his mother. But it's skimpy motivation.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is that the relationship between the two main characters has no chemistry. Tye Sheridan, who was an appealing young actor in Mud (2012) and Joe (2013), lacks appeal as an adult.

The Card Counter brings Schrader and Scorsese back together again. Schrader wrote and Scorsese directed the classic Taxi Driver(1976).

There is an irony in that Schrader might have learned something from Scorsese's The Color of Money (1986) in which Paul Newman and Tom Cruise had a palpable chemistry, as the mentor and the young man.

Oscar Isaac does his best trying to carry the film. He gives a capable performance. Tiffany Haddish is effective as La Linda, the woman who creates a stable of poker players, who play for backers. But the relationship between the two sputters. The ending seems remote rather than intimate.

Card Counters are often barred from casinos.

Paul Schrader is in no danger of being barred.

In The Card Counter, Schrader folds.