The Card Counter * * * *

Paul Schrader is a man of experience.  He's been writing screenplays and directing for over fifty years.  He has written and directed many fine films which are quietly celebrated, but I guess he is most known for films he wrote for other directors such as Taxi Driver: a classic film that served Martin Scorsese very well whilst kick-starting the careers of Robert De Niro Jodie Forster.

In many of his screenplays, Schrader might start off with a man who has close to destroyed his own life and is now in a bad place and looking for redemption.  In The Card Counter, Oscar Isaac plays the role of an itinerant gambler named William Tell. 

Tell goes from casino to casino playing Black Jack or Poker.  He's good.  He wins more than he loses, primarily because he knows how to count cards.  He always walks away before his winnings get so high they will cause attention, and he never stays at the Casino, preferring to use local motels.  

In each motel he checks into he depersonalises the room as much as possible, taking the paintings off the walls and wrapping the furniture, the desk and the chair in white calico. 

Four stars?  I'll raise you.

In flashback and voice over we learn being good at cards - and counting them is something he picked up in prison.  He talks about how he actually learned to appreciate prison. The predictable days, the routine, the uncomplicated life. He didn't read much before prison, but in prison he read continually - and played cards.  

What we don't know until almost half way through the film, is why he was in prison, and in a way I am loath to tell you because it might be a spoiler. Let's just say he did terrible things, but he was just doing his job (as they say). When it all got exposed, those in power made sure William Tell and a few others were the fall guys. Nevertheless what he did was so awful he was willing to pay for it.

As he moves on from casino to casino he meets two people who become an integral part of the story.  One is an agent.  She is an attractive woman who represents big money clients who are happy to back smart card players like Tell. If he wins, they win and he gets a sizeable margin.  

He also meets a young man who knows someone that Tell knows.  A man who was responsible for not only putting Tell in jail, but also the young mans father.  The young man believes that both Tell and his father were used and hung out to dry. He wants to avenge his father by bringing down the man who taught Tell and his father to do these awful things, and he wants Tell to help him.  He assumes that Tell would also be hungry for revenge.

Tell takes the young man under his wing. At first it seems contrary to his character, but the idea of redeeming himself in some way appeals to Tell.  Rather than helping the young man in his venture Tell is concerned he will also ruin his own life. 

It has a few weaknesses but the in true Schrader style the characters are beautifully crafted, whilst the drama can be as suspenseful and intriguing as the next turn of a card. 

It's also quite an insight into how to count cards, how to pick a table full of rubes and how to keep a low profile so the casino don't notice you.