Croupier

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

Suffering from a bad case of writer’s block, author Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) sits in his London flat, staring at an empty computer screen and trying to find the words to narrate his meandering life. Reluctantly Jack accepts a job from his absentee father (Nicholas Ball) at a second-rate casino as a dealer, or croupier, a job he once held in South Africa. His immersion back into this world is intoxicating, thanks primarily to the power he holds over his nightly clientele. Jack is a straight arrow on the floor (unlike his coworkers) but the whisper of an inside-job robbery makes his life suddenly more intriguing, as do the women who begin to drift into his life: a fellow croupier (Kate Hardie) and an alluring gambler (Alex Kingston). Suddenly, Jack finds his own life is his best book material. There’s something visceral about watching the world of gambling, and director Mike Hodges (who directed the original Get Carter) taps into this allure; Jack’s simple croupier tryout—handling cards and chips with skill and grace—is as captivating as most action scenes in big popcorn films. In the end, this little film, which went on to become an art-house hit, is as unpredictable as a roll of the dice. —Doug Thomas

—

A classic slow burner of a film, Croupier has risen from a lowly status on release to recognition as one of the best British movies of the 1990s. Certainly, there are few better examples of how to combine a genuinely original premise with an eye for the mainstream market. The film’s success stems from three key factors: strong story, star and director. Clive Owen is incredible as Jack Manfred, an aspiring but unsuccessful writer who, having taken a job in a casino, becomes embroiled in a seedy underworld. Director Mike Hodges brings all his experience to bear on the project and there can probably few more qualified to explore London’s darker side than the man behind the original Get Carter. The supporting cast too is excellent and although Alex Kingston (in her pre-ER days) will grab most attention, it is the perennially superb Gina McKee who shines as Manfred’s exasperated girlfriend Marion. —Phil Udell

Barnes and Noble

Although it earned uniformly favorable reviews, Croupier only played in a select group of theaters located largely in major metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, most American moviegoers never had a chance to see this little gem on the big screen. Nevertheless, DVD release brings the movie to a much wider audience and comes heartily recommended. Clive Owen stars as an ambitious young man who’s also a bit of a lowlife. He longs to be a published author and works tirelessly on what he hopes will be a great first novel. Needing money on which to live, he returns to the outwardly glamorous but morally questionable world of professional gambling, taking a job as croupier in a large London casino. The women in his life are well played by costars Gina McKee (as his long-suffering girlfriend) and Alex Kingston (a casino patron with whom he enjoys an erotic liaison). Owen—an up-and-comer whose name has been bandied about as the possible “next” James Bond—brings understated cynicism and detachment to his streetwise character, and he conveys his thoughts and attitudes with deceptively simple facial expressions and body language. It’s a remarkably sophisticated performance that calls to mind some of the world-weary protagonists of classic films noir. In fact, the entire film has a noirish cast, thanks to the tough, lean script by Paul Mayersberg and the muscular direction of Mike Hodges. With just a slight difference in emphasis, Croupier might have been a floridly melodramatic and altogether conventional thriller. Hodges’s refusal to bend this material to more common forms results in a less flamboyant but far more compelling movie. Ed Hulse