i must have seen a different film!!

A Masterpiece!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This second viewing was more disappointing than I had anticipated. The hilariously bad dialogues and storyline, combined with a lot of awful 'play poker or die' scenes ensure that 'Il cartaio' does not belong in Argento's A-list. The finale, which I somehow didn't think to be all bad before, is now just something between hilarious and annoying.A familiar actor from various BBC detectives plays alongside of Stefania Rocca. If they didn't have such awful material to work with, they might have done the job right. The soundtrack (I pretty much hated it before) is adequate at times, but when Rocca finally blasts that car radio to smithereens, one can only sigh of relief.There is hardly any gore, but a couple of kills were quite alright (Remo, Brennan). Then there's a handful of scenes that actually betray the hand of the master, thank God, such as the chase of a pretty woman by Remo (and his subsequent demise), the killer's visit to Anna's house and a few parts here and there.Previously I was very generous with giving this 6 out of 10, this time around I can't give it more than 4 out of 10.

(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

Officer Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) joins up with English bobby John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) to partake in a deadly game of cards. A serial killer kidnaps women and then bets their lives in an online poker game. Outsmarted by the murderer they are unable to locate his hideout and are forced to accept the psychopaths conditions in order to offer the victim a fighting chance to survive. There to assist is 19-year-old poker revelation Remo (Silvio Muccino).Undoubtedly one of the best acted outings by Dario Argento the master attempts to indulge into a bit of experimentation with a procedural police movie with a slash of gorno. Not Dario's bread and butter, which is quite evident at every stage of the movie. The basic plot doesn't really work, as the poker game is based purely on luck and therefore has none of the integrity that a professional gamer associates with it. No dares, bluffs and such. The whole idea could be passable, but the scripts attempts to make the game dependant on skill are laughable at best. This touch of ridiculousness permeates throughout the whole film, as cops forget to inform their partners as to the fact they have found the murderer's liar or that after being stalked the inspector casually puts her gun on the table and without a worry in the world drinks a glass of water. Such idiosyncrasies infest "The Cardplayer" and cast sincere doubts on just how competent Argento believes the police to be. The grand finale is unfortunately not too grand, as the killer seems to lack a couple of brain cells and has turned off all self-preservation instincts (massive spoiler: instead of lying down on the tracks he sits up and screams allowing a train to massacre his body).Unfortunately the movie does have a feel of a CSI episode with some added gore and even though the movie does involve and entertain it is sure to quickly be clouded in mist as the memory has nothing of worth to hold on to. On the plus side this is probably one of the nicest paced Argento movies.The cinematography is probably the most unimaginative in an Argento movie, so save for a few ideas behind the shots it fails to entice you esthetically.

"The Card Player" is a much better-than-expected outing from Argento.**SPOILERS**Working late one evening, Rome Det. Anna Mari, (Stefania Rocca) is requested into playing video poker with a madman for the sake of a captured tourist, and when superiors Berardelli, (Cosimo Fusco) and Commissioner Marini, (Adalberto Maria Merli) refuse, she is killed in front of them. In the ensuing investigation, British Officer John Brennan, (Liam Cunningham) is called onto the scene to help the Italian detectives handle the case. When the two eventually find ace poker player Remo, (Silvio Muccino) in the city, he is enlisted to play for the cops when the kidnapper strikes again and forces the police to keep playing for the different victims. Finally able to get a lead on the psychopath, believing it's one of their own, they race to stop them before they are again forced to play for a victim's life.The Good News: This one had a lot going for it. One of it's best features is the use of the poker games, which here is quite clever and incredibly novel. It's something that's quite familiar to most even if it's not been indulged in by all, and that alone makes it's inclusion feel very real and quite plausible, something that not many films have. The fact that there's also the twist with the games being used to build up something really depraved, with the games based on the fate of different kidnapped-victims' lives. These scenes themselves are also quite good, with the brutality of what's happening occurring through the web-cam and the on instance where the victim fights back is also thrilling and quite suspenseful. It's really new concept and feels well-done based on how it's used. There's also a lot of good parts to be had with the killer's identity, making it a good mystery how it came about and is definitely something that helps this one, as is like usual, there's a healthy number of suspects that are given attention to it and all feel like the culprit, making the surprise revelation at the end rather enjoyable and really well-done. The main feature to the film, though, is the rather-enjoyable and entertaining last-half hour, which is where all the main action revolves. Once the chase through the streets with the waitress and the tense walk-through of the underground, it's just non-stop afterward. From the boat-ride to the discovery of the last piece to the puzzle of identifying the killer that really takes the film on a nice twist and the ensuing aftermath that occurs afterward, there's hardly any part of these scenes that's slow, boring or doesn't work at all. The discovery of the mystery is great, twisting it already into a really new and enjoyable experience, the action in the several chases are fun and over-the-top, while the tension-packed finale is just excellent and caps the film on a high note. Even the kills are great, where one is impaled through a spike-laden board, another is stabbed through the neck, some gunshots, and then the main one, which has one run over by a train. These here are all that make the film enjoyable.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot that didn't work here. One of the main parts to this is that the film doesn't really have all that interesting of a middle segment. Most of these scenes are quite dull, as it's just the detectives running around Rome tracking the player, then trying to convince the player to play for them, all of which doing nothing to really make the killer a target in these scenes. Most of them are just endless, carrying on forever with little to no impact on the events at hand since they never try anyone else other than the one, which makes it such a forgone conclusion of his involvement it makes the preceding moments in the film worthless with all the hassle trying to convince him wasting time. At least make several others offers so that there's a small sense of urgency to find one to do this, as this one really makes it clear that's where it's going and the attempt at wasting time doesn't do it any favors. The last flaw is the film's lone attempt at making the middle interesting, with the attack at the house simply not being that good. Aside from not being able to see anything due to the darkness, it's impossible to tell something even happened until afterward its over so fast, leaving a state of confusion as to what happened altogether. Beyond these, though, the film isn't that bad.The Final Verdict: Not that bad of an entry at all, much better than expected and certainly worthwhile due to it's good points. Certainly give this a shot if you're into the other works of Argento, know of the lifestyle or are interested, while those that expect his earlier works every time should heed caution.Rated UR/R: Graphic Language, Violence and Nudity