Cert - 15

Run-time - 1 hour 41 minutes

Director - Edward Berger

Gambling addict Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) must pay off his debts to multiple Macau casinos whilst his past starts to catch up with him.

From an introduction where he comes across as Jack Sparrow as played by Orlando Bloom, Ballad Of A Small Player charts the unravelling of gambling addict Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell). However, questions hang over much of this unravelling as to how many layers there are to uncover, or whether things are being wrapped back up behind the camera.

Given a matter of days to pay off his staggering debts to the casino he's been living in, and barred from almost every other in Macau, Doyle finds himself desperately hitting the Baccarat table - described as the quickest game with high possible rewards - while his past starts to catch up with him (largely in the form of Tilda Swinton, make sure to stay through the credits for a highlight of the pair sharing the screen).

However, the "man whose childish pride has set him way beyond any redemption" is adamant to escape all of this, leading him to dive deeper into his addiction not for the wealth and high life but more for the survival of who he appears to be.

Director Edward Berger's latest, adapted by Roland Joffe from the novel of the same name (minus determiner) by Lawrence Osborne, may not have the tightness of Conclave or weighty push of All Quiet On The Western Front, but there's still something compelling thanks to Farrell's central performance.

He's in love with, yet undaunted, by the shining lights and surroundings that on many occasions dwarf or emphasise him as out of his depth.

Thanks to James Friend and Jonathan Houlding's respective cinematography and production design there's a sinisterly entrancing view of the Macau casino and their surroundings. Showing off the attraction that Doyle finds in them, while reminding of the grip they hold on him; even as he starts to deteriorate and spiral.

It's this point that the second half of the film focuses on. Not everything about this latter segment clicks, and as we find ourselves in new locations the push isn't quite the same and the film, even at just 101-minutes, starts to feel slightly on the long side.

Yet, when the narrative gets another jolt the compelling nature of Farrell's central figure grows its initial spark as you can't help but look away from his make-or-break actions and decisions. All of which he and Berger capture with an extra intensity as it seems Doyle is heading downwards at an increasing rate.

Much like his surroundings, we know there's doom spelled out - his opening lines promise us that "in a few days my life, as I know it, will be over" - but there's a draw in delving into the world and seeing the outcomes. This is the key that's understood by the creative departments at work here. Those working on both the story at hand and the foreboding visuals against which everything is set.

Four stars