ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Edward Berger, director of the Oscar-winning films “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Conclave,” is back with his latest beautifully-shot bummer. “Ballad of a Small Player” stars Colin Farrell as Lord Doyle, a high-rolling gambler staving off his debt collectors in the casinos of Macau.
Read more in our review below.
“BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER” (2025, 101 min., directed by Edward Berger)
Forever the aesthete, Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player” has one thing in spades: beauty. The film may have lost its gamble with, say, plot, but it looks great, painting Lord Doyle’s world in turquoise, scarlet and cream. From the casinos to the costumes, Berger’s use of color and his ever-gyrating camera are as breathtaking as ever.
The costumes are designed by regular Berger collaborator Lisy Christl, who dresses Farrell in a perfect assemblage of eccentric flourishes and cool suits. Lord Doyle is as superstitious about clothing as he is cards, always donning his pair of “lucky” yellow gloves before breaking the backs of his baccarat hand.
Superstition, as it turns out, is a pertinent theme for “Ballad of a Small Player,” which reveals itself as a ghost story by the end of the second act. As Lord Doyle attempts to evade his casino creditors, he is drawn into an increasingly psychedelic state of mind. The film is shot through with surreal, dreamy imagery – just check out that poster! – but it results in trance-like pacing to match.
Still, “Ballad of a Small Player” is always watchable, pushed along by Berger’s moviemaking moxie and Farrell’s fun, frisky performance. There are efforts to inject intrigue into the plot, like when Tilda Swinton appears as a fidgety, frizzy-haired private investigator – a perfect Swinton role in a performance bordering on self-parody – or after Farrell falls into cahoots with Fala Chen’s Dao Ming, a mysterious casino employee, but Berger must have left his yellow gloves at home for this one. There is no purpose, point or jackpot to be found at the end of “Ballad of a Small Player.”
Rating: 3/5
“Ballad of a Small Player” is now playing in select theaters and will be available on Netflix on Oct. 29.
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