The movie was slow and boring. People are calling Isaac's acting award worthy but I would call it "one note". He literally has one tone, one look and little to no actually acting. He doesn't act but instead moves through the movie like an emotionless zombie. It's not a casino heist movie and has little to no actually gambling suspense or action. At its core its actually a movie about military torture but ultimately fails at having a worthwhile message about the subject because the main characters just want to continue the cycle of torture and revenge. I just didn't dig it at all. Also the music and score just didn't work for me. Moments that needed some score were totally silent and random moments had bad music that didn't fit at all and had random breathing noises overplayed throughout.

If you can catch the vibe it is a nice movie with great acting. I like the mood and the flow.

Good acting by Isaac here. Slow building story, but worth your time if you want a to go on a sometimes gritty psychological journey w his character. Far too many slow moments for me with some interesting character choices as well. Not a great execution for me, but was happy I watched. 6.3

Despite the story being a bit nonsensical, it’s certainly Oscar worthy, or rather, it’s a great role for Oscar Isaac. I can’t really recommend the film, but if you like seeing what Oscar can do then this is a decent film.

Like green felt on a casino table: risky, dangerous and smooth.

A traumatized veteran who's become a professional gambler finds himself being pushed outside of the walls he's carefully constructed around him.

Sadly, the female lead is as clunky as the romance they force into the film, but Oscar Isaac and the soundtrack are diamonds that club my heart in spades.

Not sure I can make it through this one. It's like Rounders meets Mississippi Grind, except it is void of an engaging storyline.

[spoiler]20 minutes in the director adds a cameo by Willem Defoe followed by a dream sequence, ya I'm done.[/spoiler]

For much of this movie I was enjoying the rather minimalist approach to the movie. There was a fairly simple story being acted out by some good actors... it seemed as though we were set up for a good ending. And then the ending came.... I was underwhelmed. I get that there is more meat on the proverbial bone here when you compare the resolution with some of what had been said earlier in the movie. I also know that the "hero" is a complicated here not unlike De Niro's character in Taxi Driver (also written by the writer/director of this movie). I wanted to love it but just couldn't get there.

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Welp. I'm bored. Very slow paced boring movie. Too bad I wasted the night watching this.

I'm not really certain what I just watched, but the acting is top-notch. The story is esoteric, and it doesn't flow particularly well. It seems as if the movie is made of constituent components that were retrofitted w/ one another. Oscar Isaac was tremendous, and Tiffany Haddish was notable in her role, as well. I thought that they had strong chemistry w/ one another, so the movie kept pace, even when it wasn't overtly clear what was going on.

Paul Schrader builds another of his characters that draw from Bresson's sources, the camera that doesn't film, but writes a relationship between image and sound. The routine in which William includes himself is almost monastic, religious like many of the author's characters. The cleanliness of the image is the representation of the impurity of his soul, because the memories of Abu Ghraib are anamorphic, distorted.

A great character study in redemption, if that's possible given the situation. Excellent portrayal by Isaac Oscar.

While it has many noticeable issues, it’s mainly the excellent leading performance and tone that are most importantly accounted for in making a generally very good film.

Fairly straightforward plot but very well acted. The acting and the score carries the movie to an incredibly messy yet absolutely realistic ending. Oscar Isaac’s shot at the Oscars.

Episode 10x04
Director Paul Schrader has returned to sign this great work of contemporary cinema. Oscar Isaac embodies the role of the tormented protagonist, with a slow and analytical character in search of his personal redemption through the poker tables.

From the writer of _Taxi Driver_, and he’s kinda riffing on his own material here.
I liked it from a writing standpoint, the acting is pretty good and the characters are well developed.
It really is all about Oscar Isaac’s character arc, which also happens to be the good stuff (and unpredictable I found).
The ending is great, though I find the final shot a little too cheesy for a movie this nihilistic (I would’ve cut it off about a minute earlier).
I also feel like it was a mistake to focus so much on the poker playing without attempting to make us care about that stuff.
The cinematography is average and the score kinda feels like it tries to rip-off a Nicolas Winding-Refn film.
The licensed music felt like something you’d hear in a trailer from the 2010s, lots of slowed down tempos and moany vocals, which wasn’t the most subtle approach for setting the mood.
It’s decent, but I’ve seen better versions of this.

6/10

That time Rain Man hitched a ride home in Travis Bickle's cab.

The movie is interesting but the ending is literally [spoiler] SHIT [/spoiler]. I would give this movie 8/10 but got so mad at the ending that I gave it a 1.