Croupier |  | Director: Mike Hodges
Actors: Clive Owen, Nick Reding, Nicholas Ball, Alexander Morton, Barnaby Kay
Studio: Import
Category: DVD
Buy New: $9.29
as of 3/22/2010 05:40 EDT details
New (2) Used (6) from $4.06
Seller: Intelligent Entertainment
Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 137154
Format: NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 065935135531
EAN: 0065935135531
ASIN: B000065KCD
Theatrical Release Date: April 21, 2000
Release Date: December 18, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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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
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
excellent January 22, 2010
William R. Nicholas (Mahwah, NJ USA)
This is Clive Owen before he became well known, in America, at least.
When a writer has to pay the bills, he compromises his boheimian lifestyle and becomes a croupier at a local casino. He soon starts to realize the power he has over his gambling clients, and his job becomes his new persona.
This unfolds slowly and the hook of the film is to watch the artist become the minipulation artist. This was probably his deep impulse all along--the job only brings it to the surface. The games of his job are those of his life.
Excellent
Take a Chance on a Croupier October 20, 2009
C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
Owen Cline was the croupier in question. He was an aspiring writer, and he narrates this story. He is a man of few words, but I quess that is because he admires Hemmingway rather than Faulkner. It is an interesting story about casinos and the gaming industry. Jack is the protagonist, but as he writes a book, it is almost as if he is simultaneously a character; and the character is named Jake. Sometimes Jack will do things he wouldn't normally do, just to make things more interesting for Jake.
One thing Jack won't do is gamble. Though he is surrounded by temptation, he refuses to gamble. He is like an alcoholic who refuses to drink, knowing that once he starts in again he won't be able to stop. But perhaps Jake could take a gamble, just for the sake of the story...
There is a character, Matt, who looks like Davey Jones of The Monkees. I am wondering if this actor was the son of Davey Jones, he looks so much like him. He is a short little croupier who is somewhat of a nihilist. Napoleon Complex personified, taking revenge on a world of taller people by letting them lose their money by gambling. He's also running a little scam on the side. He pays a punter off in higher denomination chips than he was supposed to. Jack, the croupier, notices this. He makes a stink about it. The croupiers are all on camera, but they can still get away with things if done right.
That was the deal, though. I couldn't always tell what was going on, as I hadn't been born in a casino, and wasn't familiar with the finer points of roulette or black jack. Still, it was very entertaining. Owen Cline's performance is top notch. Jack does take a gamble, for the sake of Jake, and the story. Jack does write his book, but there is a price to be paid. Jack feels like he had only one book in him, and now it is done. What now?
SELECTED ROLES OF CLIVE OWEN
Closer (Superbit Edition) (2004) Clive Owen was Larry, a Dr.
Sin City (2005) Clive Owen was Dwight
Bent (1997) Clive Owen was Max
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 Only Clive Owen Super Fans Need Apply July 6, 2009
Daniel G. Lebryk
I think Clive Owen is a fabulous actor. Even though I enjoy his films so much, this film is actually kind of a stinker. There's a couple of redeeming moments, none of which have to do with this being a good film.
Story of a story. Jack, Clive Owen, is writing a novel. He's lost his job and needs work. His father sets him up to be a croupier (dealer in a casino) in a casino. We join Jack interviewing, getting the job, being a croupier, and then getting involved in a heist. Early in the film we don't hear voice over narration of the story he is writing. About 30 mintues in, we start to hear voice over narration, Chapter One, Jack does this or that...Chapter Two... After about 45 minutes of this, it gets very annoying and in the way of the mystery.
There's a backdrop of a relationship with his girl friend Marion, played by the stunning Gina McKee. And Jack has a bit of woman trouble with another dealer, Bella (played by made up to be mousy Kate Hardie); and a "professional" gambler Jani de Villiers (played by Alex Kingston).
Here's the good parts. Clive Owen. He's handsome, he moves gracefully, he has a beautiful voice...what more could a person want? Well he does tend to feel like he's reading his lines, but that aside, early Clive Owen is good stuff. The other good part, Alex Kingston. She is one of the more sensual women I've seen on screen in a long time. No she is not drop dead fabulous incredible gorgeous woman in some superstar mold. She is ever so sensual. Her beauty is of the Reubens variety, a very curvey, well proportioned woman. There is a hugely surprising bedroom scene where she just very casually shows up complete full front naked. It's shocking and exciting.
What's wrong with this film. Just about everything else. There is no way to figure out anything that is happening in this film. In a mystery, there must be clues that the viewer in hind sight will say, ah I could have figured that out; or ah that makes sense; or ah I got it before the director told me. No the mystery is totally 100% complete and totally random. There's no way you could figure it out. So in the end, it's no mystery, it's just annoying. At 1 and a half hours, its still 20 minutes too long. They could have dropped the whole voice over narration nonsense.
Oh the technology is funny. Released in 1998, probably filmed much earlier. Jack types on a Video writer. This was a funny little moment between typewriters and computers. It was essentially a typewriter with a 4-6 line gray LCD screen, memory, and the ability to edit your words after the fact. It was incredibly complex to fix mistakes, but it was better than correction fluid. The weird part about this movie (and a goof on the director's part), once you typed something into a Video writer, it was done. The final scene of Jack printing out his novel is from a computer to a laser printer; and that is simply not possible with the Video writer. Ah geekdom, its a horrible cross to bear.
The movie is not rated, but would definately be R rated. There are two scenes with very naked women. Oddly, they both casually take off their clothes, and just sort of end up naked without any attention or fanfare. As I seem to recall, there is no sex scene as a result of this nakedness (there's racier scenes in most PG-13 films). There's a good amount of strong language (definately more than 2 f bombs). Not much violence, a fight scene, but most television fights are more graphic than this one. So, an R rating. Not for younger viewers.
Unless you are a huge Clive Owen fanboy, avoid this movie. Alex is pretty, but not worth slogging through an hour and a half of lines being read. The whole casino talk never really connected with anything in the plot anyway. And the mystery is a total mess. Really didn't care for this one at all.
 One of Clive Owen's best films May 12, 2009
Angel Shepard (Statesboro, GA USA)
This is literally one of the best movies from Clive Owen. I am such a huge Clive fan anyway, but this one is amazing. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who is a Clive fan. Happy watching!
3 stars out of 4 March 1, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:
Vastly overrated in some quarters but nonetheless a pleasing-enough slow burn thriller from the director of Get Carter, Croupier is short on action but long on style, with a performance by Clive Owen that placed him number one in many people's "next Bond" lists; as long as you don't go in expecting a modern masterpiece you're likely to leave happy.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
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