Ballad of a Small Player Parent Guide

Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) may be down but he’s not yet out. In a gambling town like Macau, there’s always someone willing to take a bet, no matter how dicey your credit may be. Doyle is nearly out of money, facing an increasingly urgent hotel bill, and up to his ears in debts. His latest lifeline comes in the form of casino employee Dao Ming (Fala Chen), who is willing to extend him some credit on extremely dodgy terms. Then there’s the matter of Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), a private investigator hot on Doyle’s trail, determined to force him to confront the past he is so desperate to flee. But as always, Doyle is just one big win away from solving all his problems – or maybe just stepping off the hotel roof.

This is a gorgeous film, dazzling you with its glitzy setting, huge stacks of cash, and a shady past - but none of these things are the real focus. This story is primarily about the nature of addiction and greed, and exotic locales aside, it’s a grim little story. Suicide circles above most of the characters like the proverbial albatross, waiting just out of frame for a bad turn of the cards; a sudden reversal of fortune. The cast is superb, with Colin Farrell energizing what can otherwise be a somewhat slow story, but there isn’t a false note in the ensemble, and Fala Chen and Tilda Swinton are indispensable in keeping the film on track.

The Ballad of a Small Player isn’t going to be a big hit with families – not a real shock for a film about dissolute gamblers, con artists, and the outer limits of avarice – but it’s not nearly as bad as it might have been. Profanity is surprisingly restrained, and while there is plenty of drinking and smoking to go with a general sense of gluttony, there’s no explicit nudity or sexual content. The biggest concern is the undercurrent of suicide throughout the story, although there is only one graphic depiction.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this film going in, but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie drags a little in places, but the performances are so well considered and the setting so dynamic that it’s easy to ride it the slow parts. The story has a little more complexity to it than the synopsis might indicate, which is nearly shocking in an industry where the opposite is frequently true – another little bonus. I shouldn’t be surprised, really: Colin Farrell typically impresses, so maybe this movie isn’t the gamble I thought it was.