"If you don't play for money, why do you play at all?"
— La Linda
The Card Counter is a 2021 American drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Oscar Isaac. It premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2021, ahead of a theatrical release later that month.
William Tell (Isaac) is a mysterious drifter who makes a living counting cards at blackjack tables. After an encounter with a young man, Cirk Baufort (Tye Sheridan), Tell's past with the army is revealed. Cirk invites Tell on a revenge scheme against Tell's former superior, John Gordo (Willem Dafoe).
The film also costars Tiffany Haddish as La Linda, a gambling acquaintance of Tell's. It is the second of a thematic trilogy by Schrader, which also includes First Reformed and Master Gardener.
Tropes:
- The Atoner: William deliberately lives a lowkey life as a drifter, and later turns himself in to the authorities and appreciates the mundane prison routine, because he regrets his time in the army.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: It is eventually revealed that Gordo taught William and Cirk's father "enhanced interrogation techniques" at Abu Ghraib, resulting in their dishonorable discharges from the army. In the denouement it is implied that William reenacted these torture methods on Gordo, emerging from the latter's room covered in blood.
- Domestic Abuse: Cirk's father was dishonorably discharged from the army, which screwed him up so much he turned to drug addiction and eventually abuse of his wife and son.
- Driven to Suicide: Cirk's father killed himself in the backstory.
- The Drifter: William Tell, real name William Tillich, moves from city to city making a living by deliberately winning modest sums at casinos. He lives out of two suitcases and stays in motel rooms. It's later revealed that he is atoning for war crimes committed while deployed in the Iraq War.
- Eagleland: Invoked by "Mr. USA", the obnoxious American gambling persona of a Ukranian man.
- One Last Job: William, who has been counting cards at blackjack but deliberately winning low to avoid attention, tells La Linda that he wants to win the World Series of Poker to make enough money to retire and provide for Cirk. He makes it all the way to the final round, but then Gordo kills Cirk...
- Parental Substitute: William was in the army with Cirk's deceased father, and later develops a paternal relationship with the young man.
