Main Cast: Clive Owen, Kate Hardie, Alex Kingston, Gina McKee, Nicholas Ball
Release Year: 1998
Country: UK/DE
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
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
Review
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
Alexander Scherer - Art Director, Martin Wiebel - Associate Producer, Leo Davis - Casting, Christine Ruppert - Co-producer, Caroline Harris - Costume Designer, Michael Murray - First Assistant Director, Mike Hodges - Director, Leslie Healey - Editor, James Mitchell - Executive Producer, Jake Lloyd - Line Producer, Simon Fisher Turner - Composer (Music Score), Jon Bunker - Production Designer, Michael Garfath - Cinematographer, Jonathan Cavendish - Producer, Ivan Sharrock - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Mayersberg - Screenwriter, Mark Taylor - Re-Recording Mixer
Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen as a croupier. The film was directed by Mike Hodges. The film was released by Image Entertainment on DVD in the USA, and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. Though intended as a feature film, it was shown on television in North America. It was also initially released in cinemas and drew a steady audience at the box office. It had a strong critical following in North America, and helped to launch Clive Owen's acting career there.
Croupier was disqualified from the Academy Awards after it was shown on television.
The film has been classified as neo-noir. It uses interior monologues in the style of many early noir detective films.
Plot
Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer going nowhere fast. To make ends meet and, against his better judgement, he takes a job as a croupier. He finds himself drawn into the casino world and the job gradually takes over his life; his relationship with girlfriend Marion begins to deteriorate. One gambler in particular catches his attention: Jani, whom he starts to see outside of working hours—a serious violation of casino rules. Jani is down on her luck; under pressure from her creditors, she approaches Jack, asking him to be the inside man for a planned heist at the casino. Jack carefully considers the odds; it all looks so simple, but even a professional like Jack cannot predict the cards with which he will be dealt.
