Croupier
Thursday, June 26, 2008
“Hang On Tightly… Let Go Lightly.”
We rented this movie years ago and watched it on New Year’s Day – after the ball dropped. We cracked open the champagne, had our toast and popped this movie in… and I was at the edge of my seat – literally – for the entire movie. I was riveted. It could have been the champagne, but my hubs loved it as well. It was our first encounter with Clive Owen and we were instant fans. He was dark, intelligent, mysterious and handsome… very James Bond-esque. I later found an article I had saved when they were trying to find the next James Bond before Timothy Dalton won the role and Clive Owen was a candidate even back then, before any of us knew who he was…
Croupier is a dark thriller about Jack Manfred [Clive Owen], a writer who uses his father’s connections to get a job at a posh London Casino as a croupier to pay the bills. He’s had past experience and is hired straight away, taking the job against his own better judgement. The longer he works there, the more it takes over his life. He lets his relationship with his girlfriend die as he allows himself to be seduced by one of the regular gamblers [played by Alex Kingston of ER fame]. Turns out her creditors are after her and she manages to convince Jack to be the inside man for a heist she’s been planning. He goes along, using the situation as the plot to his next book, not knowing how the story will end…
This movie has been released in theaters all over the world as late as 2006… and if they re-released it here, I’d definitely go see it on the big screen. It’s very clever, a great story, great acting and just different from your average American thriller. It’s more subtle and it sucks you in. A must see for Clive Owen, heist, thriller fans. 4 out of 5.
Incidentally, Rhona Mitra makes an appearance as “girl with joint”… and Clive Owen starts the movie off as a bleach blond, but when he gets the croupier gig, he dies it back to his natural dark brown/black, to which his girlfriend in the movie complains about… his response to her was, “It’s just hair.” Which is my attitude, so if someone doesn’t like when I periodically cut it off or change the color I think of Clive Owen. Go figure. ;)
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: Apr 21, 2000 [1998 originally overseas] • Runtime: 94 minutes • Not Rated [but there is nudity and violence, so I'd say it would probably get an R rating]
