INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Ballad Of A Small Player. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: A high-stakes gambler decides to lay low in Macau after his past and debts catch up with him. Along the way he encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
REVIEW
It’s kind of insane that, following his last two films coming oh so close to winning the Oscar for Best Picture, Edward Berger already has a brand-new directorial effort hitting just in time for this year’s awards season; and yet, the conversation around it has been surprisingly muted. By the time I finally hunted down a link to watch it before it landed on Netflix (and while it’s still in the middle of its limited theatrical run), it felt like any potential buzz had completely fizzled out. Unfortunately, a lot of that has to do with the very muted reactions the film received coming out of the major fall film festivals.
The movie in question is Ballad Of A Small Player, yet another Berger adaptation of a well-regarded novel. This time, Colin Farrell takes the lead as a man on the run, desperately trying to gamble his way out of a mountain of debt and legal troubles, only to keep digging himself deeper. Along the way, we meet a memorable supporting cast; there’s “Grandma” (yes, that’s really what they call her), a card shark who never loses a hand; a private investigator who knows exactly how to make our protagonist sweat; a surprisingly tender-hearted loan shark; and a host of other oddballs who drift in and out of Farrell’s orbit.
For me, Farrell is the MVP here. Even the harshest reviews I’ve read can’t help but single him out as a standout. He plays this bumbling fool of a “hero” so effectively that you can practically feel the sweat and stress dripping off him in every scene. He’s a man who’s conned banks, friends, and casinos; a scoundrel who keeps shoveling himself deeper into disaster, and yet, I couldn’t stop rooting for him. Sure, some viewers might be immune to Farrell’s charm and see right through the act, but every time he was about to lose me, I’d find myself pulling for him again, hoping he’d somehow gamble his way out of the mounting mess. Even in the third act, when he makes a decision so infuriating it made me want to reach through the screen and strangle him.
On a technical level, the film is fantastic. Berger’s direction might be his most aggressive and stylistically daring yet. The cinematography is stunning, not just in how gorgeous it looks, but in how dynamically the camera moves from scene to scene. The score is solid too, though it doesn’t quite hit the same emotional or thematic heights as All Quiet On The Western Front or Conclave, it’s definitely more conventional compared to those two.
If I had to pinpoint why Ballad Of A Small Player has inspired such mixed reactions, I’d say it’s because of its chaotic tone. Following Farrell through one desperate scheme after another can make the film feel a bit scattered, especially in the middle stretch when he sets off to find someone who’s vanished from his life. There’s a moment in the final act when it shifts from a high stress gambling thriller to a sort of ghost story, and I’m not sure if that transition is as smooth as it could be. For all its craftsmanship, it occasionally feels less cinematic than Berger’s previous work as if one or two more drafts on the script might’ve tightened the whole thing up.
I’ll admit, I’m kind of in a predicament here because I’m way higher on this movie than most of the folks I follow on my Letterboxd account, including plenty I usually agree with more than not. Maybe that means I’m just realizing I’m a bit of a Berger fanboy, but so be it. My take’s going to break from most of what you’ve probably have and will read when it comes to this movie. I’ll need to sit with it a bit longer and see how it holds up against the rest of the year’s films, but right now, my grade for Ballad Of A Small Player is a strong, solid B+, with room to grow depending on how it lingers with me by year’s end. It might not be the popular opinion, but I vibed with this one from start to finish.
“TL;DR”
Pros: Edward Berger’s flair to direct a technically well-crafted film shows again thanks to an amazing Colin Farrell performance and insanely good cinematography coupled with a solid score; Some really gripping scenes of blackjack and some very fascinating supporting characters
Cons: Doesn’t quite live up to what we saw from Edward Berger’s last two films; Our protagonist is increasingly making horrible decisions that can make him hard to root for depending on what kind of characters you want to root for; Film feels like it could have used another draft or two to make it stand out something more special
GRADING
