Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Micransix Crappy film

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

acidburn-10 I'm a big fan of Dario Argento's work; his early works are true works of perfection and have seen most of his stuff and mostly his work do strikes many of emotions such as thrills, tension and brilliant over the top death scenes. But after during the late 90's to present most of his stuff have been hit and miss, and this one from reading the reviews have been classed as a miss. But In my opinion I actually rather enjoyed this effort from him, sure it doesn't have almost none of his trademark technique's. But on its own it does stand as an okay murder mystery.Firstly the plot is a very interesting and intriguing one, we get the old serial killer playing cat and mouse with the police routine, and in this case we get a killer setting up an online poker game with the police force, while using an innocent woman as bait and if they lose, she dies. This does make for a very interesting story line and it does keep the viewer interested in seeing what happens, and I did feel for these victims in that situation, but the fact that nothing is shown, doesn't leave a lasting impression, as nothing is shown afterwards and kind of makes the outcome disappointing.Plus it lacks the stunning visuals that Argento's normally provides, instead the look and feel of the movie, looks very standard, and more towards the mainstream side of things. But the two leads are very decent, Stefania Rocca as Anna was a very strong leading character, she does keep you interested and has a good presence on screen even with the bad dialogue, and Liam Cunningham makes for another good character as her partner John and even their forcibly written romantic subplot, they makes it believable and they do share great chemistry together, along with the both of them fighting their demons does anchor the story along at a nice pace. Also Slivio Muccino was another good addition as the computer wiz kid, he was just brilliant. But the other side characters were just forgettable and were just poorly written.But some of the other aspects of this movie doesn't really work, like the whodunit mystery in which this movie very much relies on, wasn't really inventive or shocking, and the final climax was just very predictable and just plodded along, and even the motive or lack of and honestly had a hard time remembering who he was at the end and just seemed lacking and lazy, but the overacting at the end was rather fun.All in all "The Card Player" is an okay serial killer mystery flick, but for fans of Dario's visual style, you will be sorely disappointed, as this just doesn't take any risks at all and feels just rather safe and plodding.

slayrrr666 "The Card Player" is a much better-than-expected outing from Argento.**SPOILERS**Working late one evening, Rome Det. Anna Mari, (Stefania Rocca) is requested into playing video poker with a madman for the sake of a captured tourist, and when superiors Berardelli, (Cosimo Fusco) and Commissioner Marini, (Adalberto Maria Merli) refuse, she is killed in front of them. In the ensuing investigation, British Officer John Brennan, (Liam Cunningham) is called onto the scene to help the Italian detectives handle the case. When the two eventually find ace poker player Remo, (Silvio Muccino) in the city, he is enlisted to play for the cops when the kidnapper strikes again and forces the police to keep playing for the different victims. Finally able to get a lead on the psychopath, believing it's one of their own, they race to stop them before they are again forced to play for a victim's life.The Good News: This one had a lot going for it. One of it's best features is the use of the poker games, which here is quite clever and incredibly novel. It's something that's quite familiar to most even if it's not been indulged in by all, and that alone makes it's inclusion feel very real and quite plausible, something that not many films have. The fact that there's also the twist with the games being used to build up something really depraved, with the games based on the fate of different kidnapped-victims' lives. These scenes themselves are also quite good, with the brutality of what's happening occurring through the web-cam and the on instance where the victim fights back is also thrilling and quite suspenseful. It's really new concept and feels well-done based on how it's used. There's also a lot of good parts to be had with the killer's identity, making it a good mystery how it came about and is definitely something that helps this one, as is like usual, there's a healthy number of suspects that are given attention to it and all feel like the culprit, making the surprise revelation at the end rather enjoyable and really well-done. The main feature to the film, though, is the rather-enjoyable and entertaining last-half hour, which is where all the main action revolves. Once the chase through the streets with the waitress and the tense walk-through of the underground, it's just non-stop afterward. From the boat-ride to the discovery of the last piece to the puzzle of identifying the killer that really takes the film on a nice twist and the ensuing aftermath that occurs afterward, there's hardly any part of these scenes that's slow, boring or doesn't work at all. The discovery of the mystery is great, twisting it already into a really new and enjoyable experience, the action in the several chases are fun and over-the-top, while the tension-packed finale is just excellent and caps the film on a high note. Even the kills are great, where one is impaled through a spike-laden board, another is stabbed through the neck, some gunshots, and then the main one, which has one run over by a train. These here are all that make the film enjoyable.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot that didn't work here. One of the main parts to this is that the film doesn't really have all that interesting of a middle segment. Most of these scenes are quite dull, as it's just the detectives running around Rome tracking the player, then trying to convince the player to play for them, all of which doing nothing to really make the killer a target in these scenes. Most of them are just endless, carrying on forever with little to no impact on the events at hand since they never try anyone else other than the one, which makes it such a forgone conclusion of his involvement it makes the preceding moments in the film worthless with all the hassle trying to convince him wasting time. At least make several others offers so that there's a small sense of urgency to find one to do this, as this one really makes it clear that's where it's going and the attempt at wasting time doesn't do it any favors. The last flaw is the film's lone attempt at making the middle interesting, with the attack at the house simply not being that good. Aside from not being able to see anything due to the darkness, it's impossible to tell something even happened until afterward its over so fast, leaving a state of confusion as to what happened altogether. Beyond these, though, the film isn't that bad.The Final Verdict: Not that bad of an entry at all, much better than expected and certainly worthwhile due to it's good points. Certainly give this a shot if you're into the other works of Argento, know of the lifestyle or are interested, while those that expect his earlier works every time should heed caution.Rated UR/R: Graphic Language, Violence and Nudity

BA_Harrison Lacking many of Argento's trademark stylish touches (strong coloured lighting, dizzying camera-work, a leather-gloved killer, and creepy dolls to name but a few), and possessing a story that actually makes some kind of sense (at least until the final few seconds.... but more about that later), The Card Player is certainly one of the director's least typical movies. Thus, it is also one of his least memorable, despite containing a few decent set pieces, some great prosthetics work from Sergio Stivaletti, and solid performances from the leads.Stefania Rocca plays a pretty Rome policewoman, Anna Mari, who is involved in a cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer whose modus-operandi is to kidnap women and use them as the stake in an online game of Poker against the police. For every hand that the police lose, the killer removes a body part from the victim; if the police lose the whole game, then the girl is killed; if the police win the game, then the girl is allowed to go free.With the help of Irish copper John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) and a young poker player named Remo (Silvio Muccino), Anna Mari eventually tracks down the psycho (described by the police expert as a 'risk-taking hedonist'), and is forced to play one final game—with her life as the wager.Although there are several strong moments in the film—the surprise death of a major character and a tense showdown between Anna and the killer in a darkened apartment being the best—The Card Player suffers from a couple of equally weak scenes which only serve to negate the power of the 'good bits'.And I'm still completely nonplussed about the very ending, in which Anna is told, via phone, that she is pregnant: it's just... so... odd!!! 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Michael_Elliott Card Player, The (2004) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Police officer Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) and British detective John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) are stalking a maniac card player in Dario Argento's latest film. This psychotic card player challenges the police to a game of online poker. If the police win then his victim goes free. If he wins he butchers the women live via a web cam. After the disaster known as The Phantom of the Opera Argento was forced to use smaller budgets for Sleepless and this film, which takes away that visual style we've come use to seeing from the director. That certainly takes away some of the charm. Also missing here is a good score. The score used is a Techno track, which sounds pretty lame. Another weak aspect is Rocca who is probably my least favorite Argento female character. Even with all that said the film manages a few excellent, classic Argento moments including a brilliant scene in the water, which I won't spoil here. Cunningham is also very good in his role and it's a shame he wasn't the lead here. The film has some good suspense scenes but the real drawback is that most of the action takes place over a computer screen. Trying to build action over a computer screen is certainly hard to do and Argento never really pulls it off. Most of the death scenes take place off screen, which might turn some off but it didn't hurt the film too much IMO. Sleepless is a much better film but this one here has enough merits for at least one viewing.