Part sweaty character study, part paranoid gambling thriller, The Ballad of a Small Player tries to burrow into the psychology of a degenerate gambler adrift in the gaudy purgatory of Macau but comes up short. What could have been an impressive vision of bad luck and worse decisions unfortunately delivers fewer thrills than a five-dollar hand of baccarat in Reno at 2PM on a Tuesday. The film has plenty of surface appeal: shimmering neon, location-shot flair, handsome production design, perfectly tailored suits that scream status and money even as they’re dressing a man on the edge of financial ruin; and there’s even a human pulse thumping beneath it all, largely thanks to a glisteningly committed, twitchy turn from Colin Farrell. But Edward Berger’s latest – following the austere All Quiet on the Western Front and the critical grand slam Conclave – is ultimately a confused, meandering, and profoundly unsatisfying drama that gambles big on a unlikable protagonist and forgettable story to come up well short of a winning hand. Read More
