Ballad of a Small Player – Friday 21st November 2025

I’m writing this in March 2026, so it’s been a while since I saw this film, and I have to say, I was not impressed.

It was slow, drawn out, and didn’t move me in any way. Sure, it’s a character study about a gambler, and yes, it may be allegorical, but just because the film has high aspirations, doesn’t mean it’s good.

If the film was a comedy, I feel it would have been more effective. The comedic adventures of a compulsive gambler who’s constantly trying to get a line of credit to gamble his way out of debt would have been more poignant, because there would have been a tinge of tragedy to the facade of humour.

Colin Farrell was good in the lead, and the harmony between costume and production design was pleasing to the eye, but beyond that, there was little to enjoy.