The Card Counter

I really like Oscar Isaac, but I did not care for this movie. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t seen the trailer. I felt that “The Card Counter” trailer is very deceptive. I knew it wasn’t going to be a comedy; but it left me with the impression that it would be a little mysterious, but light hearted, revenge motivated sort of story with some clever twists and surprises. Wow was I wrong! Oscar Isaac plays William Tell, an ex-convict who has been released from prison not too long ago. While in prison, he had taught himself how to count cards and he makes a moderate living by moving around the country, winning just enough money in various casinos to get by. He escapes notice, and a subsequent ban, by keeping his winnings low. His life gets complicated when he decides to play in a high stakes poker tournament in order to help an aimless young man (Tye Sheridan) out for revenge against a mutual acquaintance (Willem Dafoe) with a dark and cruel past. Even the addition of Tiffany Haddish as his contact and controller, La Linda, doesn’t help anything. If this had been the main theme of the movie, I might feel totally different. However, it’s interwoven with a subplot involving Tell’s involvement with the Dafoe character in torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib that is jarring and brutal. And the rest of the movie moves at a slow pace with little to really make it interesting or generate any involvement with the characters. Isaac does give a great performance, but not enough for me to recommend this one. You will not come out of this movie in a good mood. In fact, I found the whole thing down right depressing.