Don't let this one get lost in the deck of movie releases! The Card Counter isn't really a film like The Hustler or The Cincinnati Kid, both films referenced in The Card Counter by character William Tell (Oscar Isaac) aptly noting the Hustler was about pool, not cards. Like The Mauritanian or The Report this is a fictional story about the crimes committed by American soldiers in Abu Ghraib prisons. Horrific abuses occurred there for which William Tell went to an American prison and learned to count cards. He always plays it cool, knows when to get out and not bring unwanted attention to himself. This all changes when he runs into his old torture-master boss, Gordo (William Dafoe) at a hotel doing the security conference circuit. William meets Cirk (Tye Sheridan) who wants to kill Gordo as revenge on what he did to Cirk's father. William talks him out of that and the two go on the gambling road with a baker, La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) - she is the love interest. The movie is about revenge and redemption, PTSD, and finding love. It felt like a Michael Mann film (Heat, The Insider, Manhunter). It's produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Paul Schrader. This movie is aces. Catch it in theatres if you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment