writer/director Paul Schrader has made an intense, rigid, fiercely personal drama that may seem out of place to some modern moviegoers but reaffirms the artistry of cinema
the writer-director Paul Schrader moves into this genre with consummate ease and skill. A great poker sequence makes you feel like you're seated at the table, at the heady center of the action, and "The Card Counter" gives you that sensation
the central relationships can be a little schematic, while the plot slaloms in and out of plausibility. Still, the cast keeps it honest and there is much to relish in the film’s moody, meditative intensity
The Card Counter, intense and vital and hugely satisfying, is pretty great; with Isaac's superb performance.. might be the movie you didn't know you were wishing for, coming at a time when wishing for life to restart has become a consuming preoccupation
propelled by a fearsome performance from Oscar Issac, Paul Schrader's latest is a taut and disturbing thriller though it offers little in the way of surprises
Oscar Isaac exudes a wary, controlled energy that exerts a sense of coiled stillness and quiet command, making it easy for viewers to go wherever he leads, even if it’s into an airless, stiflingly tedious card room of a banal exurban casino
it's not for everybody, and it's far from perfect, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a more thrillingly necessary use of the filmmaking form this year
as with “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader crashes right through the boundaries separating the literal from the surreal. It is a strange journey, increasingly so, but an immensely satisfying one
"The Card Counter" is one of the best films of the year; director Paul Schrader’s brilliant noir expertly captures the intensity of its antihero and the sometimes exciting, sometimes depressing vibe of a casino
"The Card Counter" boasts plenty of subtle pleasures; True to the complex motivations of Schrader's haunted protagonists, "The Card Counter" ends with an acknowledgment that, in a confusing world, doing good may even require a person to do something bad
by Ann Hornaday [Washington Post ]
by Oliver Jones [Observer ]
by Bill Goodykoontz [Arizona Republic ]
by Richard Roeper [Chicago Sun-Times ]
