Watching Colin Farrell is always a pleasure, even in a not so great film, as is the case with this little flick from Edward Berger, the director of one of last year’s best, Conclave. Farrell plays Lord Freddy Doyle, a pseudonym taken on by a gambler in Macau to impress everyone with the great wealth he doesn’t actually have. He’s on a losing streak and the luxurious casino hotel where he’s living large is hounding him to pay his massive bill. But as with most gamblers, he’s sure the next hand will be the one that gets him back on track.
Unfortunately for him, that big debt with the hotel has made him persona non grata at all the casinos, so he’s reduced to betting on an obscure game called Macao where the players compete with just two cards to see who can get the closest to nine. There’s a woman there who always wins. But Freddy doesn’t have a lot of other choices and feels like it is his turn. He’s wrong of course. But he does meet loan shark Dao Ming (Fala Chen), who offers him a way out, though he declines her offer.
But later in his hotel room, a body plummets past his window to the ground, and it turns out that the person was one of Dao Ming’s clients who did not pay up before his demise. leaving her on the hook to her bosses for the debt. Freddy feels for her and says he’ll take care of it for her, which begins their odd relationship.
Meanwhile there is a strange woman (the always odd Tilda Swinton) following him around the casino. Seems he ripped off an old rich lady back in the UK, and she’s there to arrest him and take him back. But the universe intervenes and takes him away to a little bit of paradise with Dao Ming, where he gets his mojo back. Or does he?
The film is an adaptation of an award winning 2014 novel by British writer Lawrence Osborne. I suspect it works better on the page, as a lot of it is in the protagonist’s head and there is some supernatural stuff, too. It is certainly not going to win any prizes for this screenplay. Cinematographer James Friend does elevates the story with his gorgeous shots of Macau, all glittery and vibrant and seductive. But the main reason the film works at all is Farrell. I’m not sure any other actor could pull off the desperation mixed with hope and sadness as he does. It is not a great movie, but if you’re looking for something to stream and you appreciate Colin Farrell, (and who doesn’t?) put it in your queue.
On Netflix now.