• The Paul Schrader renaissance (or should I say “resurrection”) is real. With 2017’s First Reformed and now 2021’s The Card Counter, Schrader is riding a career peak in his 70s.
  • Oscar Isaac plays William Tell. Isaac is magnificent in The Card Counter and after this, when you take into account Ethan Hawke’s achievement in First Reformed, I would have to imagine actors are lining up to play the protagonist in Schrader’s next work—whatever that may be. Isaac is in nearly every scene and never makes a false move. He is exacting–intense. The diner scene with Tye Sheridan’s Cirk where Isaac’s character talks about his torturing experience –describing the noise of it all—is the best acting I have yet to see in 2021.
  • Tell is driven by monomaniacal focus on routine. Schrader again opts for a boxier frame (though not as tight as First Reformed– here he uses 1.66: 1) to highlight that singular focus.
  • Schrader has always been an intellectual. He wrote “Transcendental Style in Film” on Dreyer, Ozu and his main source of inspiration- Bresson. But Schrader has also always leaned into sensationalism as well and he seems to have found the right balance. The Card Player is largely minimalistic—but there are this ripe little opportunities for sweeps of style and visual flourishes. Isaac’s character is rich with depth and complexity. He is a savant at card playing- but he is also an ex-con and ex-soldier. Like Schrader’s Taxi Driver (Schrader wrote the script for it – and Travis Bickle is a cab driver and ex-soldier), Light Sleeper (drug dealer) and First Reformed (preacher) — The Card Counter slowly unveils the scarred mind of his protagonist through voice over narration and sort of journal writing catharsis/confession (certainly this is Diary of a Country Priest). This is a story of sacrifice (Tye Sheridan is our Jodie Foster here), paying for your sins (even a sort of flagellation), and redemption.
  • The distinctive, vocal instrument infused musical score is from Robert Levon Been- the son of Michael Been who performed a very similar sounding score for Light Sleeper.
  • In the flashbacks of Abu Ghraib Schrader uses this superwide distinctly vulgar lens to highlight the extremeness of this world- the heightening of the senses. This is a perfect marriage of style and content.
  • Another stunning example of visual bravado is Schrader’s use of the Missouri Botanical Gardens exterior when La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) and William have a date together.
  • Schrader deftly pulls the camera back through the interiors of Gordo’s (Willem Dafoe- a smaller role together but this is fourth archiveable film with Schrader) home as the audio of the climax carries on. This is such a better choice than showing the gruesome detail of the events.
  • The final frame is a hold on two fingers of glass- hope for Isaac’s character- still a shot at redemption.
  • A Must See film-top five of the year quality