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"Martin Scorsese presents" this film as producer. Its
supposedly a film about redemption. Not sure about that.
William Tell, who has changed his name from William Tilledge, has been released from a 10 year
jail sentence for his part in human rights violations and war crimes against those held by U.S. forces at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He leads a solitary life
playing blackjack and poker in the casinos of the USA having mastered the skills necessary during his incarceration.
Oscar Isaac in a voice-over as Tell
gives a succinct description of basic card counting and later explains how you get away with it by not winning too much. He soon meets La Linda, a poker player
and poker player backer, who offers to fund his poker tournament career in exchange for a 50/50 split of winnings. Tell at first declines this and explains
that most of the high-profile poker players with big winnings against their names are carrying debt in the form of loses they have made.
What quest Tell
has is not clear but his casino hotal resort visit coincides with a security conference where ex-major Gordo (Defoe) is giving a presentation to sell his
security face recognition software. Whilst attending, Tell is confronted by Cirk, son of a soldier who killed himself after leaving the military. Another who
participated in torture of prisoners. |
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Cirk is on a mission to kidnap Gordo, torture and murder him for escaping
punishment (along with anyone of higher rank), he being the one instructing the abuse. Tell insists Cirk to drop such ideas but decides to take him on the road
with him as he peddles his trade in the casinos of America.
In a twist to his path to redemption, Tell sees the opportunity to fund Cirk's
rehabilitation into normal life by winning enough money to pay his debts, Cirk's mother's debts and bankroll him with enough money to return home to his mother
and start college life once again. Thus he needs the help of high-stakes backer La Linda and they agree upon a 50/50 deal entering big buy-in poker
tournaments. He is of course incredibly successful in this pursuit and is seen at the final table of several events.
Tell gets rough with Cirk and
forces him into a pact. Take enough money with him to cover everything and go and start again by first seeing his mother. He in turn will cement a romantic
relationship with La Linda, one supposedly on the boil throughout the film, incredible from the chemistry between them on show.
I'll let you watch the
film and see how this turns out.
The Gambling
A good look inside the lonely life on the casino tour. However having done the research on card
counting, which is not a serious attempt at beating the casino anymore and hasn;'t been for many decades, they display some really basic errors. The only
blackjack hand you see Tell play is 14 against a 6 and he takes a card and wins. You can only do this if you know what the next card is.
In another shot
of a roulette wheel and table, Tell's voice tells us that Red or Black on the roulette table is the best bet for the player (on a double zero roulette wheel!)
because your chances are 47.4%. This after just telling you that standard blackjack has a house edge of 1.5%, so giving you a 48.5% chance.
With so much
gambling in this movie they really could have just spent a few dollars (or pounds) on a pro who could advise on the basics. |
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| Director |
Paul Schrader |
Oscar Isaac |
William Tell |
| Producer |
Martin Scorsese et al |
Tiffany Haddish |
La Linda |
| Writing |
Paul Schrader |
Tye Sheridan |
Cirk |
| Cinematography |
Alexander Dynan |
Willem Dafoe |
Gordo |
| Cert./Runtime |
15 / 111 mins |
Alexander Babara |
Mr. USA |
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