‘Card Counter’: Obsession is the only poker prize

Above : Oscar Isaac stars in Paul Schrader’s film “The Card Counter.” (Photo/Focus Features)

Movie review : “The Card Counter,” written and directed by Paul Schrader, starring Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Tiffany Haddish, Willem Dafoe. Streaming on various services.

Many filmmakers – the good ones, at least – explore the same subjects long enough that the two become forever linked. Think of Martin Scorsese and his mob stories. John Ford and his Westerns. Spike Lee and New York.

The same is true of themes. Take Paul Schrader . In his long career both as a screenwriter and a director, Schrader has created a range of characters who have one thing in common: obsession.

Schrader wrote Scorsese’s 1976 film “Taxi Driver,” which is a study of repressed rage and how a troubled character named Travis Bickle chooses to express it. Schrader’s 1985 film “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” is based on the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima – who was consumed by right-wing ideology. And his 2017 film “First Reformed” stars Ethan Hawke as the minister of a small church who is haunted by a barrage of emotions brought on by a loss of faith, feelings of helplessness and repressed sexual desire.

Now we have “The Card Counter,” another film written and directed by Schrader whose protagonist – played by Osar Isaac – is also obsessed. In his case, the focus of his fixation is a desire for redemption. For what, you may ask. Only gradually does Schrader tell us.

Isaac plays William “Tell” Tillich, a guy who makes his living as a low-stakes poker player. He travels around the country, from casino to casino, winning just enough to avoid attracting attention. And win he does, because Tell is what Schrader’s film indicates: someone who improves his odds because of a talent for counting cards that he learned while in prison.

Yes, Tell is a former inmate, having served eight and a half years for crimes that he ultimately ends up explaining. Until that point, we watch as Tell does his rounds, staying at motels – never at the casinos at which he plays – but only after painstakingly wrapping everything – tables, chairs and bed frame – with the white linen cloth that he carries in his suitcase.

Only then does otherwise ascetic Tell relax, as much as he is able to, drinking whisky – neat – and writing in his journal (the passages of which make up the film’s narration, as delivered by Isaac).

And then, one day, everything changes. After seeing a familiar face, Tell attends a talk given at a security-industry convention by a Major John Gordo (played by Willem Dafoe ). As he exits, he is approached by a young guy named Cirk (spelled with a “C,” played by Tye Sheridan ), who recognizes him.

Turns out Tell served in the army with Cirk’s father, and the two were guards at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison facility , site of torture and other human-rights abuses. Cirk’s father suffered dire consequences following their service, as did Tell, and Cirk wants Tell to help him wreak vengeance on Gordo – who apparently was their superior.

Cirk’s predicament awakens a care-taking corner of Tell’s soul. And soon he embarks on a mission to help the kid, though not in the way Cirk wants. At first this generosity seems out of character for Tell. Yet his intentions become clear as we gradually get the back story – of his Abu Ghraib experiences, of his time in prison and of his growing need to find a way to atone not just for committing his crimes but, as he admits, for becoming good at them.

To achieve his aim, Tell agrees to join a poker stable run by a woman named La Linda (played by Tiffany Haddish ), who seeks out players talented enough to win on the high-stakes competitive poker circuit. And he agrees to play just long enough to pay off Cirk’s debts, help the boy reconnect with his estranged mother and maybe even induce him to give college another try.

His ability to do all this, though, depends not just on his poker skills but on how willing Cirk is to control his own obsessions – neither of which, when put to the test, could ever be considered a sure thing.

Then again, the only sure thing in this singularly powerful Paul Schrader film is obsession itself.

An edited version of this review was broadcast previously on Spokane Public Radio.