Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Card Counter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 7, 2022

Poker and card counting serve as the narrative framework for a story of fractured lives, guilt, pain, and perhaps some hope in Writer/Director Paul Schrader's The Card Counter, an occasionally compelling, if not somewhat overwrought, tale of shared history and dueling life philosophies on the escape path from past pain. Schrader (director, Light Sleeper and First Reformed), whose writing collaborations with Martin Scorsese include Raging Bull and the psychological masterpiece Taxi Driver, here works hard to build a compelling narrative centered on physical torture and tortured souls. The film lacks the gritty depth found in Taxi Driver but does well in exploring the contents of the human condition from its own perspective, spurred on by solid performances and some compelling insight into the world of high stakes poker and gambling.

William Tell (Oscar Isaac) learned how to count cards while in prison. He spent eight years on the inside following a conviction for his role in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. Now on the outside, he makes his living doing the one thing he loves: playing poker. He hits up casinos and is content to win modest sums and move on. He lives out of a couple of suitcases and holes up in motels. He's a true vagabond but loves the life and the game. One day, he's approached by a woman named La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) who wants to financially back him, to pay him to enter into bigger pots and split the winnings with her. He reluctantly agrees after he meets a wayward young man named Cirk (Tye Sheridan) who is bent on avenging his fractured family life by killing Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe), a bigwig who escaped persecution in the same torture scandal that sent Tell to prison. Tell wants no part of the revenge plot but he does desire to pull Cirk out of debt and reunite him with his estranged mother. Now on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tour, and building a relationship with La Linda, Tell fights to save Cirk's life and his own soul one flop, turn, and river at a time.

The film's hypnotic rhythm doesn't always hold but it begins with a full attention grab as it explores the busy world of card counting -- the house's advantage, dependent events, and the mental math involved in the practice -- but the film gradually becomes loaded down, though not necessarily overburdened, with the emotional complexities that build from the story's developments, its character revelations, and the merging of all of the tributaries that feed into the larger plot. Schrader proves bold in merging two plot lines that feel disparate to satisfactory, but not always immediately obvious, effect. On one hand is the compelling story of a low stakes poker player trying to fly under the radar, and on the other is a young man hellbent on avenging a broken family structure. The two don't always converge with obvious connection, but part of the movie's success is Schrader's willingness to allow the material to speak for itself and leave room for the audience to sort it out rather than spoon feed answers. It's a solid film overall, one worthy of multiple viewing to fully piece together, but that initial watch might leave one torn between the individual excellence of parts and the difficulty in embracing the sum.

The cast shines. Isaac believably hides himself in his character, and as a poker player that sense of self isolation and detachment, that inability to read him, is quite valuable to his play but also to the script and story. The character is an interesting vessel, and the film would have been just as good -- if not better -- had its focus been more exclusively on him and his own life. There are times when it feels like Cirk's part in the movie takes too much time away from exploring Isaac's Tell, who is a fascinating character and brilliantly portrayed. More time with him, alone to his thoughts and routine and lifestyle, would have been welcome. He shares wonderfully believable chemistry with Tifffany Haddish, playing a more down the middle part than fans are accustomed to seeing. She handles the dramatic nuance well and the relationship her character builds with Tell evolves organically and enjoyably. The film could stand to bring her character more into the spotlight; as written the character is too superficial but that allows the focus to remain on Tell. This is a good movie that could have been made better with improved focus.

The Card Counter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Count on another solid new release Blu-ray presentation from Universal with The Card Counter. The 1080p presentation fires on all cylinders, boasting the usual excellence spectrum throughout. The digitally sourced presentation offers a steady stream of high yield detail and clarity, offering intensely fine facial and clothing elements along with razor sharp clarity to various environments, notably hotel rooms and casino floors, two locations which are prominently featured, in various iterations, throughout the picture. The film opens with a close-up of the green felt table material under the opening titles which dazzles for definition and the bold color output, setting a visual tone that the rest of the material matches. Color output in total is fine and full, yielding impressively natural color temperature and neutral contrast. Tones are rich and full, flesh tones are healthy, whites are crisp, and blacks find appropriate depth. Source noise is of little concern and there are few, if any, encode artifacts to worry about. This is a very good presentation from Universal.

The Card Counter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal flops The Card Counter onto Blu-ray with a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Everything is in fine working order, with score prominently wide, proportionately engaged through the rears, very well defined, and boasting dictionary definition levels of clarity and source faithfulness. Surrounds mostly work at carrying nicely blended ambience, notably inside casinos where chattering patrons, clanking drinks and silverware, and various games and machines all come together to offer a perfectly realistic listening environment. The same can be said at some of the WSOP scenes, especially where there are a lot of players and a lot of active tables; the sense of filling, realistic din is always palpable. Of course, dialogue is the main audio mover and shaker here, and it presents with good quality and well prioritized front center positioning for the duration.

The Card Counter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Card Counter includes one extra titled A High-Stakes World (1080p, 5:13). The supplement explores Schrader's stock character, cast and characters, the movie's unwillingness to spoon-feed answers to its audience, and more. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

The Card Counter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Card Counter struggles to find a balance between its engrossing story of a low stakes poker player and the sudden shift towards festering wounds and the joining of two souls impacted by the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. There are two good movies here, and they play into one another well enough but not so finely and firmly and fluently as to see the mesh worth the marriage. It's an interesting film but a bit overlong as it is. It doesn't make a lasting impact but it will more or less satisfy in the moment. Universal's Blu-ray offers high end video and audio presentations and a lone supplement comprising the special features department. Worth a look.