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Movie Review: The Card Counter

Mike Tyrkus

Fans of filmmaker Paul Schrader will find plenty to enjoy in his latest exercise in having his characters exorcise their personal demons – The Card Counter. In this instance, there is no shortage of the intensity that Schrader has instilled in films he has written (such as those he penned for Martin Scorsese, including Taxi Driver [1976] and Raging Bull [1980]) or those he has directed as well as written (including, Cat People [1982], Affliction [1997], and First Reformed [2017]). Anchored by a remarkable performance from Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter resonates as a mediation on redemption and via revenge.

Isaac plays William Tell, an ex-military interrogator who now earns a living as a professional gambler. But, William is troubled by past, particularly the part he played while torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib – which he was sent to prison for. While incarcerated, William taught himself to count cards and now travels from town to town playing low-stakes card games to keep himself afloat and his anonymity intact. That is, until he comes across Cirk, pronounced Kirk (Tye Sheridan), a grifter who is interested in performing a long revenge con against someone from William’s military past – Major John Gordon (Willem Dafoe). Cirk provides William with someone to look out for and La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), a backer of gamblers, serves as William’s romantic interest.

Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish in “The Card Counter.” © 2021 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

If it sounds as though there is a lot going on here, that is because there is. But, in the hands of a gifted storyteller like Schrader, a seemingly convoluted mess is easily stripped down and told in in barest and most engaging state. That isn’t to say that there isn’t anything of substance at work here, rather, there are so many layers to both the story and characters here that one could write a dissertation on the subject.

The smoky casinos and seedy motels of Ashley Fenton’s production design and given a somewhat hazy life by the cinematographic work of Alexander Dynan. All of which is underscored by the haunting music of Robert Levon Been that echoes the loneliness and sterility that haunts William throughout the film.

Although we are a long way away from the late seventies and early eighties captured in Schrader’s best work, it is easy to see that those same motifs and themes are still relevant today and exist in spades in The Card Counter.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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