The Card Counter

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: The Card Counter

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Action

Director: Paul Schrader

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe, Tiffany Haddish

Plot: Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk , a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. Gaining backing from mysterious gambling financier La Linda, Tell takes Cirk with him on the road, going from casino to casino until the unlikely trio set their sights on winning a World Series of poker tournament. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Oscar Isaac Says His 'Star Wars' Days Are Likely Over & Calls 'Card Counter' A Career “Turning Point”

Oscar Isaac has one of the more eclectic acting careers amongst A-listers today. Over the years, he’s worked for filmmakers such as Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive”), Zack Snyder (“Sucker Punch”), the Coen Brothers (“Inside Llewyn Davis”), Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”), and Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”)...

theplaylist.net

Isaac talks about returning to work on this picture and smaller budget films.

 

[TravisR]

Paul Schrader, Oscar Isaac and Willem Dafoe is certainly enough talent to get my attention.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Trailer...looks damn good...

 

[JoeStemme]

THE CARD COUNTER (2021) - When we first meet William Tell (Oscar Isaac) we learn that he's an ex-con who spent his time in the slammer learning how to count cards. Tell prowls mostly low rent casinos and plies his trade, ever careful not to draw too much attention to his mathematical edge. He wins most of the time, but never “too much”.

When he meets a young man along his travels, Cirk (Tye Sheridan), we also learn that Tell and Cirk's dad are ex-military, and who participated in some of the armed forces' darkest dealings in the war on terror under the command of Major Gordo (Willem Dafoe). Feeling a kinship, Tell takes Cirk under his wing. Tell also encounters another card shark, La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), who proposes to him that he joins her in becoming a hired player for some big money guys who will bankroll his playing - for a large cut, but, of course.

Writer-Director Paul Schrader is no stranger to seamy underbelly of society (TAXI DRIVER, HARDCORE). The card tables, bars and hotels and motels are a natural backdrop for his characters and Schrader presents them in all their dank glory - rarely showing much sunlight. One can almost smell the liquor and inhale the smoke abetted by Alexander Dynan's cinematography and a highly atmospheric score by Robert Levon Been and Giancarlo Vulcano. THE CARD COUNTER is also road picture of sorts. The main trio travel from city to city earning money along the way, one grimy dollar at a time.

All throughout his career going back to his first screenplay, THE YAKUZA (co-written with his brother Leonard and Robert Towne), Schrader has been fascinated with characters who are in pursuit of some kind of inner personal journey. His last movie, FIRST REFORMED, centered on a minister (Ethan Hawke) who's despair with the world around him leads him on an individual quest to right its wrongs. Tell's backstory also haunts, and the mostly individual act of blackjack and poker playing feeds his obsessions up to a point.

The movie never glamorizes their pursuit, and it also doesn't flinch from showing Tell's flashbacks to his time in war (fair warning). And, for much of the picture that suffices buoyed by Isaacs' strong if purposely underplayed performance. It's therefore surprising that when the picture reaches its climax it's curiously unmoving. It's extremely well-directed, suits the character and the story, yet feels unsatisfying. It's an example of ending which may work on the printed page, but, still feels undernourished when presented on screen.

THE CARD COUNTER is certainly a strong reflection of Schrader as a filmmaker. It's well done and acted, if a bit too personal a vision to be entirely transmissible to the cinema. It's what makes Schrader's films so compelling to watch, even if one sometimes feels like they are being left outside.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

THE CARD COUNTER (2021) - When we first meet William Tell (Oscar Isaac) we learn that he's an ex-con who spent his time in the slammer learning how to count cards. Tell prowls mostly low rent casinos and plies his trade, ever careful not to draw too much attention to his mathematical edge. He wins most of the time, but never “too much”.

When he meets a young man along his travels, Cirk (Tye Sheridan), we also learn that Tell and Cirk's dad are ex-military, and who participated in some of the armed forces' darkest dealings in the war on terror under the command of Major Gordo (Willem Dafoe). Feeling a kinship, Tell takes Cirk under his wing. Tell also encounters another card shark, La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), who proposes to him that he joins her in becoming a hired player for some big money guys who will bankroll his playing - for a large cut, but, of course.

Writer-Director Paul Schrader is no stranger to seamy underbelly of society (TAXI DRIVER, HARDCORE). The card tables, bars and hotels and motels are a natural backdrop for his characters and Schrader presents them in all their dank glory - rarely showing much sunlight. One can almost smell the liquor and inhale the smoke abetted by Alexander Dynan's cinematography and a highly atmospheric score by Robert Levon Been and Giancarlo Vulcano. THE CARD COUNTER is also road picture of sorts. The main trio travel from city to city earning money along the way, one grimy dollar at a time.

All throughout his career going back to his first screenplay, THE YAKUZA (co-written with his brother Leonard and Robert Towne), Schrader has been fascinated with characters who are in pursuit of some kind of inner personal journey. His last movie, FIRST REFORMED, centered on a minister (Ethan Hawke) who's despair with the world around him leads him on an individual quest to right its wrongs. Tell's backstory also haunts, and the mostly individual act of blackjack and poker playing feeds his obsessions up to a point.

The movie never glamorizes their pursuit, and it also doesn't flinch from showing Tell's flashbacks to his time in war (fair warning). And, for much of the picture that suffices buoyed by Isaacs' strong if purposely underplayed performance. It's therefore surprising that when the picture reaches its climax it's curiously unmoving. It's extremely well-directed, suits the character and the story, yet feels unsatisfying. It's an example of ending which may work on the printed page, but, still feels undernourished when presented on screen.

THE CARD COUNTER is certainly a strong reflection of Schrader as a filmmaker. It's well done and acted, if a bit too personal a vision to be entirely transmissible to the cinema. It's what makes Schrader's films so compelling to watch, even if one sometimes feels like they are being left outside.

Nice review where did you see this? In a theater or on a streaming service?

 

[JoeStemme]

Nice review where did you see this? In a theater or on a streaming service?

It's in theaters only. Came out Friday.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Saw this Sunday and found it disappointing.

As a story of a flawed character's path to potential personal redemption, it comes with potential, but Schrader finds nothing new or especially insightful to say. We get stuck with fairly thin roles that never become particularly interesting or involving, and the narrative wanders all over the place.

At times, it feels like Schrader wants to mess with the audience's expectations more than he wants to tell a compelling story, especially in terms of the involvement of Bill's gambling skills. I won't discuss this topic in detail so I can avoid spoilers, but Schrader definitely subverts the standard "sports movie" narrative.

And that's fine - if the movie manages to create something worthwhile otherwise. Though the title and first act set this up as a movie about gambling, I'm cool with the fact that theme acts more as a MacGuffin than as an important plot point.

I just wish Schrader had filled the movie with more interesting characters and tighter narrative. The movie feels like it jumps around in a less than smooth manner, and none of the roles even become especially engaging.

Isaac does well as our lead, though, as he brings nuance to a thin personality. Isaac manages a convincing sense of emotional deadness to Bill and manages to turn his growth into a convincing evolution.

Sheridan seems competent but forgettable, while Haddish shows no dramatic chops whatsoever. Not that I think she can't act, but she fails to turn her part into a believable human being.

That's possibly because La Linda exists more as a symbol of Bill's potential salvation than as an actual person. Still, Haddish seems flat and without nuance in the part.

I really wanted to like "Card Counter" and expect better from Schrader. This one just feels like an unsatisfying dud to me, unfortunately.

 

[JoeStemme]

We are pretty much in agreement here, Colin (as you can see in my earlier review). I did like it more, because I though Schrader did a good job of creating the seedy shadowy world of the professional card shark. It's a bit more than a MacGuffin if only as a symbol of how the Isaac character channels his focus.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

We are pretty much in agreement here, Colin (as you can see in my earlier review). I did like it more, because I though Schrader did a good job of creating the seedy shadowy world of the professional card shark. It's a bit more than a MacGuffin if only as a symbol of how the Isaac character channels his focus.

Yeah, Schrader really toys with the audience.

Spoiler

He builds the "USA!" poker player as the nominal "villain" for Bill to defeat and then completely undercuts the expected climactic poker scene.

Which is fine. I just don't think the rest of the movie gives us enough substance to compensate for the potentially deflating narrative choices.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I really want to see this but will have to come up with a plan to do so as it is not showing anywhere closer than 30 miles from me. The major theaters near me are dedicating multiple screens to comic book stuff and are not showing this. Plus one of the big theaters has been permanently closed and that was the one most likely to have dedicated a screen to this.

Hopefully, I can get to it before they pull it, which probably will happen fairly soon.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So finally got to see this, on Blu-ray, and once again Schrader proves his brilliance as a writer and filmmaker. Again he is telling a tale about a man lost within the sins of his past and of our times. This is distinctly the kind of picture Schrader likes to make. It has layers and is very much about how our world functions these days.

It is set in the world of the professional gambler but it is not a story about gambling. It might look like this and Focus Features most definitely wanted this to be a film about gambling but as is his way Schrader is only using that as a backdrop to tell us about how we lose our way in this world.

I think it was Mike Medavoy that told Schrader after watching Light Sleeper that it was a brilliant film but "Paul, we don't make pictures like this anymore."

That would have been in 1991-1992. Well, Schrader is still making pictures like this.

This film seems very much a piece with that picture. The soundtrack made me think of Light Sleeper several times during the film. Schrader calls these kind of films "A man in a room" films because they are about these solitary men sort of being swallowed up by the world they live in. First Reformed fell into this category as well. In that film Schrader has Ethan Hawke's Rev. Toller find himself swallowed up by the money laundering operation of a mega church as this is the primary function of mega churches in our country. At one point Cedric the Entertainer delivers a fantastic line to Toller telling him all he does essentially is run a gift shop for the mega church.

Probably a lot of people watching First Reformed did not realize that Schrader was commenting on how dirty mega churches are in our world. They probably get more lost in Toller's despair and the environmental angle.

In this picture Oscar Isaac's William Tell is a veteran that served in Iraq and was sent to prison for being one of the soldiers stationed at Abu Gharaib that was trained and took part in torturing the inmates there. This was a war crime that, basically, went unpunished. This is really what this film is about and commenting on. The card playing and gambling is just setting. At one point when asked why he plays cards Tell responds "It passes the time."

He explains to Sheridan's character (the son of a man that was at Abu Gharaib with Tell) that the way he lives going from casino to casino playing cards is just a way to waste time until you sort out what you should do. Tell is a typical Schrader character that is drowning in guilt for his sins and is not searching for forgiveness because he does not believe he deserves any. This is in no way a sports movie that is about Tell's character gambling his way to the top. He's no Fast Eddie Felson playing because he loves cards or because he is a great gambler. There is no joy or thrill in winning for Tell. He has no interest in cards at all really. He plays so he can keep going round and round until he figures out what he should do. He does not want to be the top card player nor to get rich. His motivation is really to place himself in limbo until...well...something happens that tells him what he should do.

There is a guy he plays cards against that is Ukranian and has a couple buddies that follow him around with signs that say USA and they chant USA whenever the guy wins. This is not to set this guy up as a villain nor for this guy to be the ultimate opponent for Tell to have to face in a big showdown poker game. The USA Ukranian gambler is Schrader's way of showing you how stupid and annoying people that chant USA are. It is totally nonsensical and ridiculous that a Ukranian guy and his crew are chanting USA when they win at poker. Schrader is trying to tell us something here. He is trying to annoy you by showing you what annoys him. What the hell are these guys chanting USA for?

Oscar Isaac's Tell, veteran of some very dirty business conducted in the name of the USA, sits at the table listening to this. It is sort of comic in a very dark way. It also amounts to the kind of brilliant writing we hardly get in movies anymore.

We don't make films like this anymore, Paul.

Thankfully, Paul is not listening.

This is a great film but probably one people need to see more than once and also one you have to ponder. Schrader makes pictures that throw a lot at you and that generally try to say something about our lives and the world we live in. It is the kind of movie "magic" a guy like Scorsese loves. No surprise he executive produced this picture.

I highly recommend this picture. It is one of the best films of 2021. Schrader is presenting something to you here that is not about delivering a big payoff scene. He wants you to walk away feeling some of the outrage he feels and with a question in your mind.

This is probably not popular filmmaking as Medavoy pointed out but it is fantastic movie making.

This picture was so intensely enjoyable for Isaac that he stated after making it he wished he could make pictures like this for the rest of his career. Focus Features was a bit put off by the film and even more put off by Schrader on his social media accounts. With Schrader he is going to tell it like it is, in his films and on social media.

You will either get that or you won't. Personally, I am loving it.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Here are some great comments from Schrader about transcendental style in film. Essentially, this is about pacing and how to draw people in. Schrader says it is how you make a viewer participate because the film is asking you to lean into it rather than it leaning toward you. It is mostly, at least in the big budget pictures that now dominate movie theaters, a lost art. Newer films do not set out to make you participate, to lean into them as Paul says, but rather they bombard you. Whether it is bombarding you with effects, motion, colors and epileptic editing or just dumping information on you to be absolutely certain you understand the picture the way they wanted you to understand it. Pacing is mostly a dead issue in new films as they work on a stopwatch that mandates you deliver something every so many seconds...an action sequence, a joke, sudden rapid cutting, or an information dump so you hopefully grasp what is going on. The theory being that if you don't deliver one of these things the audience will get bored...and here we have Schrader explaining the use of "boredom" or dead time in a film. Literally it makes the film breathe and makes things that happen more impactful on the audience. Obviously David Lynch loves transcendental style in film and he will take it to great extremes.

Anyway, this is a great little video and there is a clip of a film that has been very influential on Schrader and his films...including The Card Counter. If you have seen The Card Counter you will catch it.

 

[TravisR]

Schrader was asked what the best movie of the year was and he said The Card Counter. That's so funny and honest that I love it.

Director Paul Schrader Lists His Own Movie, ‘The Card Counter,’ As His Best of the Year

Director Paul Schrader listed his own feature, "The Card Counter," as his favorite movie of the year.

www.indiewire.com

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Schrader was asked what the best movie of the year was and he said The Card Counter. That's so funny and honest that I love it.

Director Paul Schrader Lists His Own Movie, ‘The Card Counter,’ As His Best of the Year

Director Paul Schrader listed his own feature, "The Card Counter," as his favorite movie of the year.

www.indiewire.com

Ha, well, he is right at least. I still have pictures from 2021 to see but this was obviously one of the great ones for the year. It is speaking directly to how our world operates these days. The message of the picture is likely the biggest and best delivered message of the year and it is an important message. This in and of itself makes it a great and important film.

It certainly lives comfortably beside other Schrader pictures. His body of work is stunning and though he probably is not listed as one of the great filmmakers of our times he certainly is.

I think he is more than a little misunderstood as a filmmaker and as a person. He does reveal himself through his films though. They are deeply personal and always deliver something meaningful about our struggle through life.

He understands subtlety and nuance the way few filmmakers do. He constructs his pictures in multiple layers that make them rich and wonderful films to revisit. What his characters do as a job he calls a mask, a facade, that they hide behind. In his pictures you do have to look beyond the facade.

I also think that many people watch his films and think they are downbeat but he presents hope in them as well. There is often some kind of brightness in the dark at the end.

Schrader is a guy that really loves movies and moviemaking. Movies really mean something to him and because of this when he makes one he is truly attempting to deliver something with deep meaning in it. He does not see his films as product. It causes him to struggle inside the business but he does and has managed to deliver a lot of pictures that really are great films with something to say.

At the link you posted I found it interesting that Barack Obama's favorite films are also listed and he chose The Card Counter as one of the best pictures of 2021. Obama likely really grasped the message of the picture and probably in a very dark way because he actually had to lead this country when these things were rearing their very ugly heads. I would be fascinated to have a discussion with Mr. Obama about this film. Plus I did not know Obama was such a cinephile.

 

[TravisR]

Ha, well, he is right at least. I still have pictures from 2021 to see but this was obviously one of the great ones for the year. It is speaking directly to how our world operates these days. The message of the picture is likely the biggest and best delivered message of the year and it is an important message. This in and of itself makes it a great and important film.

It certainly lives comfortably beside other Schrader pictures. His body of work is stunning and though he probably is not listed as one of the great filmmakers of our times he certainly is.

Considering how good Schrader's work is, he's something of an unknown even among movie fans (compared to other greats that got started in the 1970's). However, he's kind of a wild man on Facebook which has seemingly increased his profile over the last few years. I don't think that's resulted in him getting to make more movies or anything but I do think that more younger movie fans might seeing his current and older work because of that.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Considering how good Schrader's work is, he's something of an unknown even among movie fans (compared to other greats that got started in the 1970's). However, he's kind of a wild man on Facebook which has seemingly increased his profile over the last few years. I don't think that's resulted in him getting to make more movies or anything but I do think that more younger movie fans might seeing his current and older work because of that.

Actually, seeing this film triggered me to want to have a Schrader fest. So, I am putting together a group of his pictures to watch. He actually is pretty well represented on Blu-ray so the opportunity is there to discover his work for those that have not. I have missed some of his pictures over the years because they have been so under the radar I did not know they had been released or where to see them but I have seen most of his work.

As a person, I think he likes to push people's buttons and call bullshit when he sees bullshit. I think he falls into a category with John Milius as writer/directors that really are fantastic at what they do but scare some people in the industry due to their politics or opinions. I think a lot of people that are scared of them or upset by them actually do not understand them at all.

Schrader on social media I am pretty certain is trying to tweak people. Focus Features around the time that this film was going to be released asked him to stop posting on social media for about a month because he was scaring the shit out of them, I think. I hardly ever look at Facebook but other people write about his posts on social media and personally I find them hilarious. Problem is we live in a time where if you work in the entertainment industry nobody wants you to be that kind of hilarious. The articles about his social media postings range from people that get him to people that do not get him at all and do the "This is highly offensive!" thing.

Schrader, quite obviously, has no f**ks left to give on that front and does not care if people get him or not. I know some people were upset when he said he would die on set to finish shooting The Card Counter when they shut them down because some actor had flown in from LA and had Covid. I thought it was funny but some people don't have a sense of humor about that stuff.

He did take the shutdown in stride though because it gave him time to think about what he had shot and show it to Scorsese to ask him his opinion. He said that actually ended up being great. He was shutdown with 4 scenes left to shoot and needed just 6 days to shoot them.

 

[TravisR]

Actually, seeing this film triggered me to want to have a Schrader fest. So, I am putting together a group of his pictures to watch. He actually is pretty well represented on Blu-ray so the opportunity is there to discover his work for those that have not. I have missed some of his pictures over the years because they have been so under the radar I did not know they had been released or where to see them but I have seen most of his work.

As a person, I think he likes to push people's buttons and call bullshit when he sees bullshit. I think he falls into a category with John Milius as writer/directors that really are fantastic at what they do but scare some people in the industry due to their politics or opinions. I think a lot of people that are scared of them or upset by them actually do not understand them at all.

Schrader on social media I am pretty certain is trying to tweak people. Focus Features around the time that this film was going to be released asked him to stop posting on social media for about a month because he was scaring the shit out of them, I think. I hardly ever look at Facebook but other people write about his posts on social media and personally I find them hilarious. Problem is we live in a time where if you work in the entertainment industry nobody wants you to be that kind of hilarious. The articles about his social media postings range from people that get him to people that do not get him at all and do the "This is highly offensive!" thing.

Schrader, quite obviously, has no f**ks left to give on that front and does not care if people get him or not. I know some people were upset when he said he would die on set to finish shooting The Card Counter when they shut them down because some actor had flown in from LA and had Covid. I thought it was funny but some people don't have a sense of humor about that stuff.

He did take the shutdown in stride though because it gave him time to think about what he had shot and show it to Scorsese to ask him his opinion. He said that actually ended up being great. He was shutdown with 4 scenes left to shoot and needed just 6 days to shoot them.

Looking at his directorial work that I've seen, I've always really liked Hardcore and thought it was somewhat underrated. Not to say that it's a great movie (I don't really buy elements of the ending) but George C. Scott is great and you can see Schrader's issues with religion coming through loud and clear. Auto Focus is another decent one from Schrader but you rarely go wrong with Willem Dafoe.

And yeah, I agree that on social media, he's just being himself and he's wholly unconcerned if you like him or his thoughts. And he's not one of those guys who is just being a contrary asshole or using freedom of speech as a shield for bigotry, he's just saying what he thinks.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Looking at his directorial work that I've seen, I've always really liked Hardcore and thought it was somewhat underrated. Not to say that it's a great movie (I don't really buy elements of the ending) but George C. Scott is great and you can see Schrader's issues with religion coming through loud and clear. Auto Focus is another decent one from Schrader but you rarely go wrong with Willem Dafoe.

And yeah, I agree that on social media, he's just being himself and he's wholly unconcerned if you like him or his thoughts. And he's not one of those guys who is just being a contrary asshole or using freedom of speech as a shield for bigotry, he's just saying what he thinks.

Hardcore is one of the pictures I will be watching, likely try to double feature it with Auto Focus, ha, kind of Schrader's descent into sleaze. I like Hardcore but admit I am also a huge George C. Scott fan. I have only seen Auto Focus once and so need to watch that again.

Also will be watching Patty Hearst, which there is a fantastic blu of from Vinegar Syndrome I believe. It's an outstanding picture and very stylized in the presentation of the story. I wrote some stuff about it somewhere, don't know if it was here, about how it is a great picture to watch these days because it does a pretty outstanding job showing how someone becomes radicalized.

I will also pull out Affliction, a Schrader favorite of mine, which I really hope gets a Blu-ray at some point. It has some truly ferocious performances from Nolte and Coburn. American Gigolo, which I have not seen in a long time as well. Plus Light Sleeper and First Reformed. And as a first time watch Adam Resurrected.

On his social media posts I do think there is some humor in them. However, I think some people read them and take them as dead serious.

 

[TravisR]

Hardcore is one of the pictures I will be watching, likely try to double feature it with Auto Focus, ha, kind of Schrader's descent into sleaze. I like Hardcore but admit I am also a huge George C. Scott fan. I have only seen Auto Focus once and so need to watch that again.

Also will be watching Patty Hearst, which there is a fantastic blu of from Vinegar Syndrome I believe. It's an outstanding picture and very stylized in the presentation of the story. I wrote some stuff about it somewhere, don't know if it was here, about how it is a great picture to watch these days because it does a pretty outstanding job showing how someone becomes radicalized.

I will also pull out Affliction, a Schrader favorite of mine, which I really hope gets a Blu-ray at some point. It has some truly ferocious performances from Nolte and Coburn. American Gigolo, which I have not seen in a long time as well. Plus Light Sleeper and First Reformed. And as a first time watch Adam Resurrected.

On his social media posts I do think there is some humor in them. However, I think some people read them and take them as dead serious.

I haven't seen Patty Hearst since the days of the video store and I saw Affliction in theaters when it came out. I remember liking them when I saw them but I keep forgetting to grab PH when Vinegar Syndrome has sales.

I was a kid when it came out but I've always wanted to see Light Of Day because for some reason, I have a distinct memory of it being widely panned upon release. Today, I'm most interested in it because of the cast- Michael J. Fox doing drama, Gena Rowlands, the great Michael McKean, Cherry Jones, Michael Rooker, and future Nine Inch Nails frontman/Twin Peaks musical act/multi-Oscar-winning composer Trent Reznor as a member of another band (I'm sure he's basically an extra but it'd be funny to see).