Few people in the film industry have had a more impressive last few years than Edward Berger, who directed 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front, for which he was Oscar-nominated, and 2024’s Conclave, for which he should have been, and Colin Farrell, who starred in 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin, which brought him a long-overdue first Oscar nom, Thirteen Lives and The Batman, to say nothing of the 2024 limited series The Penguin, for which he is currently Emmy-nominated.
Therefore, it was rather exciting to learn that the two had joined forces for Ballad of a Small Player, a film about a self-destructive gambling addict and con artist in present-day Macao who grows increasingly desperate as his luck runs out. Adapted by Rowan Joffe from Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name, and also featuring Fala Chen and Tilda Swinton in supporting roles, Ballad had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival’s Werner Herzog Theater on Friday night.
I’m pleased to report that it is a funny, sad, stylish and altogether entertaining time at the movies. It’s also completely different from the two aforementioned Berger films, in terms of size and tone. Those were large-scale epics about matters of social consequence, and became across-the-board Oscar contenders, landing nine and eight noms, respectively. This one is more of an intimate character study and, for me, evoked memories of 2015’s Mississippi Grind, 2019’s Uncut Gems and, of course, 1974’s and 2014’s The Gambler. As far as awards, I suspect attention will largely center on Farrell’s tour-de-force turn and Joffe’s colorful screenplay, both of which could well be Oscar-nominated.
Netflix will release the film in theaters on Oct. 15 and then on its streaming platform on Oct. 29.
