Film Review – Ballad of a Small Player

Director Edward Berger pulled off a cinematic miracle just one year ago. Tasked with making a suspenseful picture about a collection of cardinals gathering to select a new pope, Berger and his production team managed to make arguably the most exciting feature of 2024 with “Conclave,” achieving extraordinary tension out of a story that, from the outside, appeared to be an Ambien pill in the making. Berger jumps right back to work with “Ballad of a Small Player,” joined by screenwriter Rowan Joffe (“28 Weeks Later,” “Before I Go to Sleep”) for this adaptation of a 2014 novel by Lawrence Osborne. The story concerns a gambling addict and con man dragged through an assortment of challenges to his fortune and mind, with Berger focusing intensely on the punishment of desperation. Lightning doesn’t strike twice for the helmer, who can’t seem to find the rhythm of “Ballad of a Small Player,” which wants to be many things without being much of anything. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com