Director: Edward Berger
Writers: Rowan Joffe, Lawrence Osborne
Stars: Colin Farrell, Chik-Ka Lai, Alan K. Chang
Synopsis: When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
The gambling life isn’t for everyone. When there’s a win, it’s a moment to celebrate a die being rolled in just the direction you want or a card being pulled that leads to a pair of aces instead of just one. On the flip side, when there’s a loss, it’s a moment of desperation that is dialed up more and more knowing money is just within reach and yet unattainable. It can sometimes spiral into an addiction and belief that sooner or later, there will be a win later. Hopefully. Such is the premise for Ballad of a Small Player, director Edward Berger’s latest effort after All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave.
Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) is a gambler living large in Macau, though only in appearance. The cards have not been in his favor as of late, and he is beginning to pile on more and more debts. As the days progress, his only shot at making it out being the hope that he might win big again soon. As his past decisions and mistakes begin to catch up with him, from the lack of bills paid and money borrowed being owed, to the appearance of a private investigator (Tilda Swinton) looking into his past dealings and demanding restitution, Doyle’s situation becomes more and more desperate, and he hopes for that miracle that may not happen.
From the get-go, Ballad of a Small Player establishes Macau as the dazzling, vibrant gambling playground it appears to be, with James Friend’s outstanding cinematography and Berger’s frequent collaborator Volker Bertelmann’s thunderous score booming over one hand played after another on the casino floors. Lord Doyle moves from one place to another, trying to play wherever he can, even when his reputation increasingly begins to come into question with the successive losses he begins to take. Farrell is fantastic in the role, playing a deteriorating man whose facade is beginning to crack in more ways than one, his powerful persona becoming more fragile with every conversation and every hand lost. Things shift a little when he meets Dao Ming (Fala Chen), a woman working at the casino, whose own life seems to be on the fringes while also connected in many ways to what is unfolding with Doyle. Chen is solid in the role, adding a few emotional anecdotes through the runtime, and Tilda Swinton as the investigator Cynthia Blythe is both bizarre and even funny in moments, while making sure she’s right on Doyle’s heels.
Friend’s cinematography also helps in those gambling sequences, provoking an immense level of anxiety as each hand is played by the other players at the table, in a manner that evokes the tension in movies like Uncut Gems, a comparison that might be made by many given both movies deal with someone who keeps wanting to bet big and raise the stakes especially if it making some more money in the short term. That anxiety also results in a fast-paced movie that moves at a relentless pace…until it doesn’t. Unfortunately, the movie runs aground in its second half, bringing the momentum to a grinding halt and, beyond its established characteristics, doesn’t develop its story any further. As a result, Ballad of a Small Player ends up being an exercise in style over substance more often than not, mainly relying on those gorgeous visuals and its terrific lead performance to carry it through to the end.
Many moments in the movie showcase the glitz and glamor of Macau and its casinos quite often, but the narrative also hints at its darker underbelly, with much of what Doyle is doing amplifying many of those negative tendencies and even affecting him later, but it never quite goes as in-depth as it can. This is further personified by Dao Ming, whose story also showcases similar moments of desperation, but then takes a far more predictable turn that takes away from the impact of the movie that preceded it, particularly with Doyle’s arc. By the end of the movie, Tilda Swinton’s private investigator also doesn’t end up contributing much to the story, despite her incredibly fun performance.
The thudding lack of momentum in that back half also drastically affects the movie’s pacing, which begins to drag despite only a 101-minute runtime (including credits) and making the movie feel considerably longer in the process, and robs it of much of its initial tense set-up. By the end, Ballad of a Small Player feels less like the operatic saga of a gambler that it initially sets out to be, and instead results in a movie that may be a visual spectacle through and through, but has with very little to look back on as far as a poignant, thrilling story about addiction and gambling goes. The movie just about manages to stay afloat still thanks to Farrell’s fantastic work, who elevates it even in its lowest moments, and creates an experience that makes the ride worth taking, even when it runs out of gas by the finishing line.
