User reviews

Too depressing without getting anywhere. Using music and all the scenes to create the dark and ruthless vibe, without actually letting the emotions to go places. 95% of the time it's too plain for my taste. It does discuss some deeper issue, like torturing, interrogating, revenge, PTSD, etc. It has a real tragic ending. Not a bad movie, not far from being good. Just the plot way too empty.

I thought this film was going to be about a blackjack player, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was more of a Texas Hold'em experience. The film was directed by the talented Paul Schrader and stars Oscar Issac as the gambler. It also features Willem Dafoe in a cameo. The Dafoe character is very shallow, and we have no idea about how he became the person he was. However, the character exploration of William is much better. Two other characters are also featured; Tiffany Hadish as La Linda, the romantic interest for William, and. Tye Sheridan as Cirk (as in jerk). Too much Abu Gharib torture crap and not enough pyscho-poker. At times, vaguely reminiscent of Taxi Driver due to the driven personalities of the similar protagonists, but Taxi Driver far more effective. A decent take on the miserable, lonely, depressing, and meaningless existence of gamblers, and how casinos are not exciting and fun places to be; they are quite the opposite. Family is far more important.

Director Paul Schrader seems to use a little bit of "Taxi Driver" as an influence with his latest dark character study drama film "The Card Counter". The story follows William(in a good performance from Oscar Isaac) as an ex military interrogator who after his prison release puts one of his learned skills and vices to good use. That happens to be he now travels as a poker and card player competing in world series games all around the country. However his life is still haunted by past memories and his old military boss Gordo(the great Willem Dafoe) plays a part and a connection and a return to a downfall is meant for William. Along the way William has a sidekick and partner in La Linda(the sexy Tiffany Haddish and I loved the scene in which she sports that sexy black bra in bed with Oscar!) a sexy and professional street smart gal who provided some sexy eye candy scenes, and she even bonded and gets intimate between the sheets with William as she guides his winning table ways. Overall film is nothing great still it entertains with drama as one is trying to escape a dark past still it shows life is all about luck and a gamble even when love and doom is both present.

Was good acting but the movie was just too slow & rubbish ending.

Isaacs is convincing, the story, less so. It's dark, but not dark enough. Emotional and yet aloof. It doesn't sink in as deep as it's intended to, and yet cuts deep enough to make some kind of mark. Shallow and yet just about enough depth to swim in.

The opening was fine, not sure we need another movie about card playing and I found the occasional on screen graphics a bit annoying and unneccasary but great performances all around from the cast and the contemporary scenes of the casinos and generic hotels were all very nicely captured. I was less keen on the flashbacks with the 360 cameras. That didn't work for me and all seemed a bit amateurish.

The closing third of the movie and the resolution was a bit disappointing after all the character build up. It seemed an easy way out. Enjoyed it overall but not a patch on First Reformed.

Oscar Isaac gives a powerhouse performance in The Card Counter. This just goes to show you that he deserves more leading roles in films today. Also another surprising serious performance was from Tiffany Haddish. Tiffany is usually well known for her comedic performances but in this movie she gives the audience a more serious performance. This movie was good but it is a little on the slow side with a lot of clever dialogue throughout. This is a film presented by the great Martin Scorsese but is not directed by him. Instead this film is directed by Paul Schrader who seems to find an identity crises with this movie. Sometimes it just doesn't know what it wants to be. I was wanting to like this movie so much more then what I ended up liking it as. The Card Counter is worth a viewing but probably only one of those. The Card Counter gets 6 cards out of 10 from me.

Like most Paul Schrader directed films I've seen, there's a better story lurking in the material than the one we ultimately get presented to us on the screen. It's unfortunate, because the first half of the film or so is quite compelling. The performance by Oscar Issac is outstanding, and premise of an ex-military interrogator with a dark past, turned into a 'card counter' is a very interesting one, as are the portrayals of that sort of casino-lifestyle. But it quickly gets thrown away, as the film stops paying attention to the gambling aspects, showing us the act of gambling without bothering to show us the cards or show us what's happening. Why not? Does Schrader think the viewer is too dumb to follow along? Or perhaps he didn't want to make a "gambling film" but that's an odd choice indeed for film where 75% of the shots are inside a casino.

Schrader's direction style also takes something away, as it always comes across to me as "cheap," for lack of a better word. He shoots digital, and his films LOOK digital, whereas better directors are able to at least mimic film (for which there's no real replacement, Tarantino is correct there). And everything is so basic. Basic fadeouts on scenes, standard dialogue shots, etc. I think his craft is slowly improving over time, but I really wish he would hand this material over to a director who could do so much more with it, or perhaps partner with a really good DP.

The ending of the film feels rushed, and ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied. However, I still recommend it to people who like genuine film, as it is miles better than any of the trash Netflix is churning out these days.

"The Card Counter" is a Drama - Thriller movie in which we watch a man who is an ex-military interrogator becoming a gambler. His mistakes from the past haunt him and he tries to find redemption and salvation from his present actions.

I liked this movie because it had a nice and interesting plot consisted of mystery and drama. The interpretation of Oscar Isaac who played as William Tell was very good and he made the difference. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Tye Sheridan's who played as Cirk, Tiffany Haddish's who played as La Linda and Willem Dafoe's who played as Gordo. The direction which was made by Paul Schrader who is also the writer of it, it was very good and he presented his main character with very few information something that created a mystery behind him while he mainly focused on his present life. To sum up, I have to say that "The Card Counter" is an interesting movie with a simple plot that I am sure you will be interested on watching so, I recommend you to watch it.

It's ok. Nothing here is absolutely unforgettable (except that beautiful garden at night). Nothing here is absolutely bad (except Haddish performance). With this director, this cast and this story, I was expecting more.

He is a good actor... but the storyline is just poor. The story went no where. It could be scripted better or even a little bit more exciting. Too many scene of sitting at the casino table, I was expecting him showing more gambling skill since the movie title is "The Card Counter"? I like the PTSD idea but wish they could go deeper & make the movie more intense.

Watchable despite how slow it run. Has some terrible and unlikable prison scenes. The whole story is sorta revenge and redemption mixed with casino games. Characters like Tiffany Hardish also did nothing useful in the movie....guess she was introduced as a celebrity ad. Oscar did a very good job with his role...looked and sounded like a serial killer sometimes. A major twist which comes later in the story makes everything sensible and fun. Lovely movie with it's flaws.

I like the way this film was shot and the plot was novel and unique. The acting was good and the film was believably understated.

What sadly let the film down was the way it ended, with a whimper rather than a bang, otherwise it would have been with at least one if not two stars.

An open door to the life of a gambler whose past as a military interrogator hunts him. What he is thinking and feeling is treated mostly in the form of dialogues with himself, and what we know of William Tell is his present as a low-stakes gambler and what will connect him to Cirk (with a C). A protagonist reduced to a choice, a period of his life. This economy of information adds to the mystery of him making the movie an immersive introspective examination where some choices seem the product of the unconscious and can't be enacted in a direct manner.

Paul Schrader's The Card Counter deploys aesthetic choices not only to give us more insight into the protagonist's past but also to convey the oppressive, claustrophobic feeling of what happened there. The use of VR lenses and their 220-degree angle combine intrusiveness and uneasiness, a door difficult to close once open.

Oscar Isaac enhances the sense of intrigue with a performance that combines both charm and distance, giving the protagonist a resonant voice of its own without sacrificing the deliberate avoidance of overexplaining.

I didn't hate the movie. I streamed it for free so I can't complain. I feel bad for anyone who paid for it, however.

It's just a very flawed movie. The guy is known as a card counter, which is done in blackjack. But somehow becomes a pro poker player? Why not just call the movie "the poker pro"? Then he randomly meets someone at a convention in the Casino who happens to know all about his sordid past? OK, that made no sense. Then they start driving around together?

It was just poor writing, the plot was weak. The ending was weird and didn't make sense. It's like asking me to write a story that would be produced by Martin Scorses and Oscar Isaac.

Like I said, it had enough weirdness and content to not be totally boring. But it was just not quality work. And watching scenese where Oscar just sat there chomping on food made me lose respect for the guy. Not his best acting job.

And a scene at the end where Oscar and DaFoe go at each other, the camera pans away and you just hear "ouch! Ohhhh! Ewwww!" as if the director was trying to imitate Reservoir Dogs but totally missed.

The only thing I can guess is that Scorsese has connections to Casinos and this was some attempt to market Casinos via a movie.

Should you watch this film? I think so. Much of it is a mystery. We see a haunted man going through the motions of life. Why does he limit himself, why the need for such self control. As we learn the back story it deepens the mystery. There are many great intense scenes. I didn't care for the soundtrack.

The Card Counter is presented as a Scorcese film. But it was written and directed by Paul Schrader who wrote the screenplays for "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull." Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe are cast members.

The Light Show scenes were filmed at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Unique - yes. Isaac as a card counter and interrogator combo is intriguing...but Haddish is a weird co-star to fulfill the role. What might have been thrilling turns out to be a little bit of a dirge...

I was looking forward to watching this movie starring Oscar Isaac and produced by Martin Scorsese particularly as it sounded like it had an interesting plot.

Although I watched it through and there were some interesting parts to it overall I found the movie quite slow. I think what mostly kept my interest was trying to figure out some things like the routine Tell went through after checking into a motel (which in the end is never really explained.

Can only give this 6/10.

This was 80% of a movie I could have rated an 8 but the ending fell flat. It was a commentary on Abu Ghraib, torture and what it does to the souls of man. But also a commentary on the stubbornness of people, that once they get something into their minds it's almost impossible to get them to change their opinion or plan. Both were interesting with good acting, enough for a 6 from me. It just seemed like it could have been so much more with just a tweak or two.