Croupier (1998)

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Directed by Mike Hodges.

Starring Nicholas Ball, Kate Hardie, Alex Kingston, Gina McKee, Clive Owen.

A man finds his personal and professional loyalties divides by his new career at a casino in this crime drama. Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is a cocky, supremely confident man who wants to be a writer. Jack's long struggle to finish his first novel has landed him deep in debt, and his father (Nicholas Ball) volunteers to get him a job in a casino in London. While Jack doesn't gamble himself, he has the dexterity (and enough contempt for the game) to be a good dealer. He's soon making a tidy living as a dealer, despite the objections of his girlfriend, Marion (Gina McKee), who thinks his job is taking him away from his true calling as a writer. Against the orders of his boss, Jack has a fling with Bella (Kate Hardie), another dealer at the casino, and allows himself to be seduced by one of his customers, Jani (Alex Kingston). However, it turns out Jani wants more than sex from Jack; she and her compatriots have a plan to rob the casino and they want Jack to be their man on the inside. Croupier was directed by Mike Hodges, whose first film was the classic British thriller Get Carter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Croupier
by sarcastig in As cool as a Fruitstand

liked it.

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"It's sometimes so nice to come into a movie with no expectations or preconceived notions about it, and so rare, unfortunately. It's the big movie geek dilemma: you want to read everything that's being written about a movie you're eager to see, but this does have the side-effect that you lose the ability to be surprised. By the time a movie finally comes out here in the Netherlands, it often feels like I've seen it already.All I knew about Croupier was that a) it was about a croupier and b) it was Clive Owen's breakout role. My crush on Clive Owen made point b) enough of a reason for me, and after just watching Ocean's Thirteen two days ago, the casino setting seemed appropriate.I loved: the noirish third-person narration - though it spooked me a little, as when I get in a writerish phase I start narrating my life to myself in my head, also in third person; the unreliability of said narration, Clive Owen as a blonde, even if it isn't for long; Clive Owen's hat; the surprises of the ... " [More]

Croupier
by sarcastig in As cool as a Fruitstand

liked it.

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

This dark crime drama and sleeper independent hit from the United Kingdom represents a comeback of sorts for director Mike Hodges, who bookends his career by doing his best work since the similarly bleak Get Carter (1971). Like Hodges' classic debut, Croupier is individuated by a cynical central character reluctantly navigating his way through a world he understands all too well but has tried to leave behind in an effort to create a "better" life for himself. This interest in the British class system and Hodges' skeptical, if sympathetic, view of those struggling to rise above it through whatever (not entirely legal) means necessary is an intellectually engaging, recurring motif not utilized often enough in his otherwise spotty career. A breakthrough performance is delivered in Croupier by lead actor Clive Owen, whose bravura acting, along with the rest of the film, was rendered ineligible for American awards due to the brief release of Croupier on international television in 1998, a disappointing technicality that ignited controversy among the film's champions. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Tags: gambling , british , Cool , awesome , casino
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