The Card Player (2004)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

(Credit IMDb) A Rome policewoman teams up with a British Interpol agent to find a crafty serial killer whom plays a taunting game of cat-and- mouse with the police by abducting and killing young women and showing it over an Internet web cam. Eh. I suppose it could have been worse. Argento seems to have given up on being the innovator he once was. It's not like his work is terrible these days, but it's bland and uninspired, compared to what he used to be. Routine work like this seems to be so beneath him, but I digress. Like a lot of Argento movies. Most of the actors are dubbed, so it's really hard to rate the performances in this movie. I can't stand dubbing, so I can't really comment on that. The deaths are quite average for an Argento movie. We do get a gross autopsy sequence, a hook in the neck, among other things, but it's sub par for Argento. I was impressed with the finale in this one. It was adroitly shot with some OK suspense with a predictable culprit. My problem was until the finale, everything feels tacked on and uninspired. See it if you're a huge Argento fan, others needn't bother. It's watchable, but completely forgettable. I don't remember much about it at all5/10

I would have given one out of ten but the idea for the film I thought was pretty good - so I gave it 2. I really couldn't see past the bad acting and dubbing - oh hell it is terrible. I'm still watching this film - I want to turn it off and watch something else but I also want to see how much worse this could get. Like I said; the story line idea is pretty good, the problem I have with it is that it was shown on the Horror channel so I recorded this thinking it would be a horror film. It's not, it's a thriller police chase thing. Which isn't the sort of thing I'm in to. If those are the types of films you like, and you can get past the terrible terrible acting and even worse dubbing, then by all means watch this film. If you are watching this thinking it will be a gruesome horror film; you are wrong, do not watch this film.

A female police detective (Stefania Rocca), who works for the cyber crime unit in Rome. She receives an mysterious e-mail that the recent tourist is captured by the kidnapper. This psychopath wants to play poker on-line with the police, this crazed person rules are simple if you can beat him for three games. He promises, he will let his victim go if you can beat him. A British police officer (Liam Cunningham) comes to help the Italian police officers to catch the killer. But this murderer is so good at poker and he manages to keep the police away from finding him. Their only option is finding a young brilliant poker player (Silvio Muccino), who could save lives of the psychopath's would-be victims.Directed by Dario Argento (Do you like Hitchcock ?, Opera, Two Evil Eyes) made an fairly intriguing suspense-thriller that was made before "Untraceable", which it has some of the same ideas. This Italian import is actually well dubbed in English, good performances by the leads, some suspense but flawed and sometimes incredibly absurd (not to mention, not everything in the story makes sense). It is one of the few Argento's movies doesn't have graphic gory violence or memorable set-pieces. Also, it is one of Argento's most straightforward films, although not one of his best works as a filmmaker.The DVD has an good anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an decent Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The DVD has an fairly interesting commentary track by film critic Alan Jones, interview with the director, interview with Claudio Simonetti (Who worked on most Argento's films) and more. Perphas the problem with the film is the conclusion, the identity of the villain is unexpected but the suspense at the climax is played for unintentional laughs and an unbelievable ending as well. "The Card Player" does have some dark humour, the cinematography is good and it's a modest Argento movie. Fans of the director's work will enjoy this best. Written by the filmmaker and Franco Ferrini (Once Upon a Time in America, The Stendhal Syndrome, Trauma). Worth a look. (*** 1/2 out of *****).

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.