The Card Counter – A Half Baked Crime Thriller (Early Review)

The Card Counter follows William Tell (Isaac), an ex-convict with a dark past who learns to count cards while serving jail time. With everything of value stripped from him and the ghosts of his past following his every move, Tell spends his time out of prison motel-hopping and practicing his newfound skill at local casinos. However, when he crosses paths with a young man for whom he happens to share a common enemy and a woman seeking a business partnership, he begins to regain a sense of purpose and is given the chance to atone for his sins.

Paul Schrader has had a tumultuous career, to say the least. Many cinephiles refer to him as the unsung hero of American cinema. Despite being partly responsible for writing the screenplay for both Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Schrader primarily played second fiddle to Scorsese and DeNiro in terms of praise. Both films infamously missed out on a screenplay nomination at the Oscars, despite breaking into the Best Picture lineup in their respective years. Schrader since branched off from Scorsese’s crowd and carved his own path as a filmmaker in the world of art-house cinema. Mostly living in the shadow of his opus Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, he has never quite reached that same level of success. That is until 2018’s First Reformed which ignited a new generation of fans who have been eagerly awaiting his next move.

Schrader’s career has faced plenty of highs and lows. While The Card Counter is certainly not his worst outing as a filmmaker, it does represent another low point in his career. Uninspired, sleazy and directionless, the film is the polar opposite of First Reformed. That being said, Schrader should be commended for taking risks from a technical standpoint. The choppy editing, fixation on close-up shots and the overbearing synth-driven score may be off-putting for some, but it certainly creates an uneasy atmosphere that is sure to keep audiences in a state of suspense throughout a good portion of the runtime. Schrader is clearly drawing influence from low-budget 70s crime-thrillers. While he wears his influences on his sleeve, from a technical craft perspective, he does pull off this style effectively.

Schrader teaming up with Isaac seemed like a match made in heaven on paper. Isaac is undeniably talented and is arguably an A-List actor, but unlike many other performers at his level, he is not often given roles that truly challenge him. He proved with Inside Llewyn Davis that he is a soulful actor who is able to channel a deep range of emotions. At his best, Schrader is a master at crafting multi-layered character studies with tormented protagonists struggling to battle their inner demons.

Unfortunately, complex is not a word that not apply with The Card Counter. Tell is more of an archetype than a fully realized character, and while Isaac does deliver an incredibly subdued and distant performance that adds to the film’s off-putting atmosphere, it is not enough to elevate the half-baked script. Haddish and Sheridan as La Linda and Cirk respectively are given roles meant to be the film’s emotional anchors, but neither actor delivers. Even Willem Dafoe disappoints as Gordo, a completely underdeveloped antagonist.

In the end, while The Card Counter does display some technical proficiency, it is merely a poorly written, relatively generic crime-thriller offering little to no substance, underdeveloped characters, and half-baked ideas that are never fully realized.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Tristan French