In terms of what’s what in the world of film right now, Oscar Isaac’s name is quite up there in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, the much-anticipated and latest cinematic iteration of Frank Herbert’s inspirational science fiction book series. Playing the Duke Leto Atreides, this Star Wars actor appears on screen with much more significance than his character in the original book does. Isaac’s name also rings, at the moment, for Scenes from a Marriage, the limited series in which he stars alongside Jessica Chastain. But a month earlier, he was the leading man in The Card Counter.
In The Card Counter, Oscar Isaac plays mystery low-risk gambler William Till, whose life consists going from city-to-city and making small winnings in casinos; ‘the house doesn’t care that people count cards and win big... what the house has a problem with are those that count cards and win big’, is the mantra he says to a character, as he explains how he keeps a low profile as he games the gambling system.
Throughout The Card Counter, Isaac carries with him a brilliant mystery man persona. Even as he carries on a repetitive, borderline monotonous, life, you can tell there’s something more to the man. Even as he portrays himself as something of simple bore, who only seeks excitement via playing cards, you know there’s a weight on his shoulders.
And his performance in that regard is incredible. It’s a thing with the story of the film itself, of course, but The Card Counter doesn’t work without Isaac’s taciturn man with obvious buried skeletons shtick. And it is also testament to the film that he looks the part; the hair, the face, the tattoos. At times, he oddly reminds you of himself in X-Men: Apocalypse (decent nod to Tye Sheridan, who appears in both films as well), except this mystery man with a dark past is, if not more likeable, much more authentic.
Directed by Paul Schrader and produced by Martin Scorsese, The Card Counter does a remarkable job of providing symmetry. Ultimately, you could describe this movie in itself as a long game of poker; whereby nothing happens for a long time, and then something big does. As such, when Sheridan, as Cirk, makes a remark of how Till’s life is a touch repetitive and roundabout, he’s almost echoing the audience watching. There’s a sense of ‘is that it?’ from watching The Card Counter as it continues; then you realise that the ‘it’ in itself was saying something, and most pertinently, that’s far from it.
This film, in a reductive way, plays out on an issue of retribution. But with Oscar Isaac’s character, it’s not so much revenge as it is a form of closure. The kind of closure you don’t initially realise you needed, but has been budding inside for a while – again, the symmetry is what sells it, the way it communicates past, present and future actions via Till as the narrator is great.
The Card Counter is not fast-paced, it’s almost too serene, and the music isn’t exactly the kind to steal the limelight. Instead, this is a movie that wants to work within itself. Of course, some elements are open to question; is it too isolationist? Does it overtly rely on Tiffany Haddish to lighten things up as it progresses? Did it probably need to work its scenes a bit better?
But, ultimately, this is about Oscar Isaac. It’s his stage, and everyone else and everything else – maybe including the plot in itself – is playing background extra. It’s about watching him walk, watching him play, watching him watch, and getting fascinated at the man who lives from motel to motel, covering everything with white sheets (though they don’t quite pay that off), and discovering an absurd addiction to confinement and solitude.
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