seymourblack-1 On the face of it, the character who features most prominently in this psychological drama is a cold, laconic and emotionless individual who appears to have undergone a charisma bypass. What makes him so interesting, however, is his voiceover narration that runs through the entire film and provides a full and fascinating insight into his thoughts, attitudes and aspirations. Because his motivations, reasoning and opinions of the people around him are all made so transparent, it becomes impossible not to be gripped by his story and intrigued by how it will play out.Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) who lives in London, is an unpublished novelist who's suffering from writer's block and has bills to pay. Fortunately, his live-in girlfriend Marion (Gina McKee) is very understanding as she's a romantic who's deeply in love with him and relishes the idea of living with a writer. Jack was brought up in South Africa and an opportunity to get over his immediate difficulties arises when his father, who still lives there, sets him up with a job at a casino. During his interview for the job, Jack displays his considerable speed and dexterity in dealing cards and stacking the chips at a roulette table and is informed about the strict rules of the establishment. These stipulate that croupiers must remain aloof at all times from both clients and fellow employees and must report any form of cheating that they see. Because he'd previously worked as a croupier in South Africa where he'd learned that the house always wins, Jack never gambles and is very confident about his ability to do the job Jack conducts himself impeccably in his work and impresses the manager with his professionalism and apparent honesty. He also gets to indulge in his own addiction which is the enjoyment he derives from watching other people lose money. The late hours he works have a detrimental impact on his relationship with Marion and he breaks his first casino rule when he has a one night stand with Bella (Kate Hardie) who's also a croupier at the "Golden Lion". Another rule gets broken when he chooses not to report that he's seen fellow croupier Matt (Paul Reynolds) cheating the house and then takes to socialising with him.Unexpectedly, the most significant turning point in his new job arrives in the form of Jani de Villiers (Alex Kingston) who's also South African. She's a sexy, sophisticated and seasoned gambler who befriends him and persuades him to participate in a planned robbery of the casino. With a £10,000 payment as an immediate inducement, Jack finds this offer impossible to resist and then has to deal with the numerous surprising consequences that follow.Jack is a deeply cynical man who hates cheats, thinks he's smarter than everyone else and has a sneering attitude to gamblers. He habitually works out the odds on various issues before taking decisions and despises the sleaze that he's surrounded by in his place of employment (which Bella refers to as "the cesspit"). He loses his moral superiority when he gets tempted by Jani but also benefits from his experience by using his job and Matt as inspirations for a successful book and its main protagonist. Clive Owen is exceptionally good as Jack, especially as his character is so dead-pan for most of the time.The seedy nature of casinos as places of legalised theft where money is routinely laundered and the proceeds of crime finance the gambling is very convincingly recreated here and provides a wonderful backdrop to Jack Manfred's unusual story.

bombersflyup Croupier is a very good film, that lacks in terms of excitement and overall story, though quite compelling. Clive Owen's character is a little bland on the exterior, though his inner dialogue throughout the film is very good, it's hard to care about the character. I especially loved Gina McKee as Marion. Killing her off, was an easy way out for the writer and quite disappointing. Many of the scenes feel like they were edited down quite a bit, either jumping ahead or not resolving. Which makes it feel rushed and mashed somewhat, with a short runtime. Croupier has quality content and is one of the better casino related films, though not up there with the likes of "Rounders" or "Owning Mahowny."

FlashCallahan Jack Manfred is a struggling novelist in London. To make ends meet, he sells his beloved car and gets a job as a croupier at the Golden Lion Casino.Jack had previous training as such back in South Africa. He doesn't particularly like being a croupier, but he's good at it and finds a certain pleasure in watching gamblers, for who he has disdain, lose. The casino has a strict set of employee policies, including no gambling ever, no relationships with other casino employees and no fraternising at all with the gamblers - also known as the punters - outside of the casino. Although Jack cannot tolerate cheaters, he is not averse to bending rules when it suits him As time goes on, he begins to observe casino life with a certain distance, through the eyes of "Jake", the main character in his novel and his alter ego......A lot of people do not get this film because of the fact that it's jack playing out his character Jake for the second half of the film, and no the film noir some think it is.This is a man in purgatory, living a life that no one wants, starting work as his girlfriend finishes, and comes home when she is going to work, the people he meets are false, or desperate, and when he gets close, they disappear or turn out to be something different.So why not live out a fantasy world, in order to get your dream underway (writing your novel).Many have said that Owen is wooden in this, I disagree greatly here, his motivation is to play someone unattached with the real world, to appear withdrawn, after all the world he is in at work is full of fantasy and falsehood.The rest of the cast are great, and the ending lets the movie down ever so slightly, but all in all it's an amazing movie, full of vibrant images, and that undoubted cheap nineties feel.

Spikeopath Jack Manfred is a struggling writer who is set up by his gambler father for a job dealing at a London casino. Catching inspiration from the seedy setting of his employment, Jack starts to write about his experiences. But although it makes for a good story, the reality is that his life is spiralling out of control.Croupier is known for two main things outside of being a good and interesting film. Firstly is that it launched the career of Clive Owen, lifting him out of the TV mainstay league and into the Hollywood subconscious. Secondly is that it was largely ignored on release in its homeland of Britain, but after America took a liking to Mike Hodges tantalising tale, it scored a re-release and Owen and the film have not really looked back since.Tho not quite deserving of the sleeper gem reputation it has, Croupier none the less is a strong London based thriller set amongst the ducking and diving world of the all night casino. Led by an engaging Owen performance, the characters are meaty, with Hodges and his writer Paul Mayersburg creating a nice line in paranoiac mystery. There's a bit of an overdose of twisters in the final straight, but in the main Croupier comfortably holds the attention span for its 90 odd minutes running time. 7/10