Every gambler knows that, sooner or later, no matter how hot their streak becomes, they’ll eventually go bust; the only variable is how much it’ll hurt when it happens. After making an international splash in 2022, director Edward Berger’s new film Ballad of a Small Player isn’t a spectacular bust, but is a relative disappointment compared to his recent output. Though it’s easy to see why Berger was drawn to making the film, the end result is a worn-out character piece full of wasted potential.

Lawrence Osborne’s novel of the same name feels somewhat related to Conclave and, to a lesser extent, All Quiet on the Western Front, in that they’re all concerned with men facing a crisis of faith – faith in themselves, faith in the system, and faith in the world at large. Ballad of a Small Player stays focused on one man, Lord Doyle (Collin Farrell), a British expat living amongst the casinos in Macau – the “gambling capital of the entire universe,” as he puts it. “Living” may be putting it generously though, as he finds himself barely scraping by on credit and goodwill as he tries to strike it rich at the high-roller baccarat tables. Here is a man who purposely projects a certain status to the rest of the world, but as the film goes on, we see it’s all a ruse, and we see how desperate he is to maintain that projection.

As Ballad of a Small Player begins, Doyle is already down and out, waking up in his penthouse suite in a kind of stupor, and being threatened to pay back the HK $352,000.64 (about $45,000 US) in a few days or the management will call the police. And though he can go to any of the seemingly endless number of casinos in Macau, he’s hunted by Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), an investigator who’s been hired by interested parties in Britian in order to bring Doyle back. Turns out Doyle was a financial advisor who bilked a wealthy old woman out of her fortune before she died, and he’s been on the run ever since. Doyle’s only friend and refuge comes in the form of Dao Ming (Fala Chen), who’s written explicitly as an escort in the novel, but is more ill-defined in the film.

Berger has the building blocks of an interesting drama about public personas and how they often clash with our private lives, or in the intersection of projected confidence versus the lies we tell ourselves to survive. But screenwriter Rowan Joffe quickly eschews this discussion, and Ballad of a Small Player simply becomes a stale, cautionary tale about gambling addiction. The obvious recent comparison point is Uncut Gems, but that film’s grimy realism is replaced with Berger’s upscale sheen – though, admittedly, James Friend’s cinematography, which effectively captures the relentless neon of Macau and Hong Kong, and the sweat constantly dripping down Farrell’s face, remains excellent.

Collin Farrell has had his own hot streak in recent years as well, with beloved performances in The Batman and The Penguin, The Banshees of Inisherin, and After Yang. It’s hard to say if Farrell is miscast or perfectly cast within Ballad of a Small Player; he nails the desperation lurking beneath the surface of Doyle, and he’s attractive enough to understand how he could skirt punishment for so long. But I found myself almost wishing the role would’ve gone to someone more wiry, more low-status, in order to more effectively sell Doyle’s depths.

The failure of Ballad of a Small Player isn’t enough to cash out entirely on Edward Berger. If anything, it’s a reminder that he’s a stylish depicter of crafts, and can mold an engaging performance out of a thinly-drawn character. Berger’s interests clearly lie in pulpy airport-esque novels, and there is certainly no shortage of those available to any reliable filmmaker. It’s hard not to be disappointed in his latest, given the upward trajectories of both Berger and Farrell but, like any gambler knows, it was only a matter of time before they came crashing back down to Earth.

Ballad of a Small Player is now playing in select theaters. The film will be available to stream on Netflix on October 29.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• Netflix surely had high hopes for Ballad of a Small Player, but tepid-to-negative reactions on the fall film festival circuit have essentially killed its chances. Even recent winners Volker Bertelmann and James Friend face stiff competition from contenders more likely to score Best Picture nominations.
• In another year, perhaps Lisy Christl (another regular Berger collaborator) could receive a nomination for her costume design. But, again, it’s become harder and harder to receive a craft nomination if your film isn’t at least a contender for a Best Picture nomination.