THE CARD COUNTER: 3 ½ STARS
鈥淭he Card Counter,鈥 the new film from 鈥淭axi Driver鈥 screenwriter Paul Schrader, now playing in theatres, is less concerned with cheating at cards than it is with the heavy conscience of the main character.
William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is a man with a past. Ex-military, he鈥檚 haunted by his time as an enhanced interrogator at Abu Ghraib. These days he鈥檚 constantly on the move, trying to outrun his past, travelling from town to town working as a professional gambler and card counter, a skill he picked up during a stint at Leavenworth.
His past catches up with him, however, when Cirk (Tye Sheridan) makes the connection between his late father, who was driven to violence and suicide by memories of his time as a torturer, William and their commanding officer Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe). Cirk has a vendetta. He blames Gordo for his father鈥榮 death, and plans revenge.
William sees the messy situation as a chance for redemption. With the help of financial backer LaLinda (Tiffany Haddish), William attempts to right the wrongs of his past, clear his conscience and send Cirk off on a better path.
鈥淭he Card Counter鈥 is an austere, intense movie.
Schrader鈥檚 trademark anguish permeates every frame. Isaac plays William as a man who has numbed himself to the horrors of his past by adopting a controlled, methodical way of life. It鈥檚 his way of reducing memories of 鈥渢he noise, the smell, the violence鈥 at bay, but he is tormented, and Isaac鈥檚 careful performance reveals a man aware that his guilt could overflow at any time. It would鈥檝e been easy to play him as comatose, shut down to real life after the pain he willfully inflicted on others, but Isaac gives him life.
His only way out of the psychic hell his memories put him through on a nightly basis is through helping Cirk to ease the young man鈥檚 pain. There are echoes of 鈥淭axi Driver鈥 throughout. Like Travis Bickle, William uses violence to 鈥渞escue鈥 an innocent, but unlike Mr. You Talkin鈥 To Me, William also has a sweet side. His relationship with LaLinda is warm and Haddish鈥檚 performance helps show us William鈥檚 human side.
Schrader fills 鈥淭he Card Counter鈥 with not-so-subtle social commentary. One of William鈥檚 rivals on the gambling circuit is Mr. U.S.A. (Alexander Babara), a loud and proud player dressed in red, white and blue. He鈥檚 an empty shell, a braying show-off whose presence is all sound and fury, signifying nothing. He鈥檚 the polar opposite of the self-contained William, a man who has seen the horrors his country endorsed and knows of the personal cost involved. The allegory isn鈥檛 delicate, but it does feel timely and ripped from the headlines.
鈥淭he Card Counter鈥 is another of Schrader鈥檚 looks into the soul of, as he called Travis Bickle, 鈥淕od鈥檚 lonely man.鈥 He tempers the darkness with wry humour and even a touch of romance, but make no mistake, trauma lies at the heart of the storytelling, resulting in a tautly told morality play that encompasses the war on terror and the personal cost of military action.
KATE: 3 STARS
In 鈥淜ate,鈥 a new action thriller now streaming on Netflix, Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the titular character, a ruthless killer with just twenty-four hours to get to the bottom of a murder鈥攈er own.
When we first meet Kate she鈥檚 in Japan. Her handler and mentor, played by Woody Harrelson, has arranged a hit of a high-level yakuza. She takes the shot, hits her target, leaving his young daughter Ani (Miku Patricia Martineau) in tears over his body.
Later, on another gig, just as she鈥檚 about to take a shot her eyes blur. Unable to aim, she misses, takes another shot and misses again. After a wild chase she lands in the hospital where she is told she鈥檚 been poisoned and has just twenty-four hours to live.
Her quest for vengeance leads her to an unlikely ally, Ani, the daughter of one of her victims.
鈥淜ate鈥 is a fast-paced riff on 鈥淒.O.A.,鈥 the seventy-year-old Edmond O'Brien movie about a victim who tries to figure out who poisoned him and why. French director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan amps up the action, staging everything from wild car chases through the streets of Tokyo to up-close-and-personal fight scenes, all focused on Kate鈥檚 ability to jump, punch, shoot and generally lay waste to all comers. Winstead, who proved her action bona fides as Huntress in 鈥淏irds of Prey,鈥 brings the kick assery in fight scenes that are fleet-footed and plentiful.
Set against the background of the ticking clock, 鈥淜ate鈥 delivers some high-velocity action, even if the premise isn鈥檛 exactly new.
FINDING YOU: 2 ½ STARS
Like an Irish twist of 鈥淣otting Hill,鈥 the new rom com 鈥淔inding You,鈥 now on VOD, sees a regular Josephine with dreams of being a star, fall for a movie star who wants nothing more than to be a regular guy.
After a failed audition for a tony New York City Conservatory, Finley Sinclair (Rose Reid) decides to decamp to Ireland to live, work and study Irish music at her relative鈥檚 B&B. Because this is a rom com, on the plane she sits next to movie star Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre). He鈥檚 on the way to shoot the latest installment of his 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥 style fantasy franchise. Thinking they鈥檒l never see one another again, they harmlessly flirt. She falls asleep on his shoulder and he charms her as he gently wakes her up.
Let me remind you, this is a rom com, so when they land on the ground in the tiny Irish town of Carlingford, it turns out they鈥檙e staying at the same hotel! Who would have imagined?
Sparks fly, but there are complications. (Again, this is a rom com.) There鈥檚 a fake Hollywood romance with starlet Taylor Risdale (Katherine McNamara), a meddling manager and Beckett鈥檚 eager fans.
But love changes everything, and soon Beckett and Finley come together in a journey of self-discovery that will change both their lives.
鈥淔inding You,鈥 based on the 2011 young adult novel "There You'll Find Me" by Jenny B. Jones, has all the elements of the dreaded inspirational rom com. There鈥檚 beautiful scenery that鈥檚 almost as good looking as the actors. There are also romantic complications, flirtatious behaviour, boozy regulars at the pub, a dead relative or two and enough Irish clichés to make a leprechaun blush.
Everybody knows rom coms aren鈥檛 about the destination鈥攚e all know who will settle down with who by the time the end credits roll鈥攖hey are about the journey.
鈥淔inding You鈥 is all journey, like driving down a road you鈥檝e gone down dozens of times before, but they鈥檝e put up a new billboard or two. You鈥檝e seen it all before, but the scenery is nice.
