Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is a struggling writer. His dad refers him for a job as a croupier in the Golden Lion Casino. He sleeps with fellow croupier Bella (Kate Hardie). His relationship with girlfriend Marion Nell (Gina McKee) deteriorates. Gambler Jani (Alex Kingston) pulls Jack into a relationship and convinces him to be the inside man to rob the casino.This tries to be a hard-boiled crime drama. Director Mike Hodges uses the Clive Owen narration to bring about that sense. His style is more like murky 70s drama without enough flash to make it exciting. Jack Manfred isn't that compelling. He's too cool, too detached and too calm. After everything that happens, he's bemused. I can't really feel for this character.

I suppose I didn't see the same ending as many other reviewers.One gent wrote this: 'It's not the worst ending I've ever seen in a movie but I can't help feeling cheated by the last twenty minutes which sees an unlikely plot twist of Jack visiting a morgue along with some unlikely dialogue with a policeman . We're also treated to Jack having a telephone conversation which does seem ridiculous almost as though the screenwriter didn't know how to finish off the screenplay along with a faintly ridiculous final scene.'I agree. This film deserved a much better finale than it has. It pretty much ruined the movie for me.Last... is Marion's character bipolar? Or something? I guess I did miss that, as her mood swings were wider than the English Channel.

I stumbled upon this movie while channel surfing late one Saturday evening, and was hooked from the first scene I saw.I had never been that impressed by Clive Owen - thought the best thing he did was his cameo on the Extras Christmas special/series finale - but from the moment I saw him on the screen in The Croupier I was captivated. Of course, it may be because of the shock of his appearance; the film was made more than ten years ago, and Owen was youthfully slim, and had bleached out hair. However, Owen did not rely on the superficial to create his character, Jack.Jack is a cold, distant, and - as we discover by the end of the film - amoral. Is this genetic, inherited from his father? Is it because of he is a writer, and he is driven to create something on the one hand derived from his life, but on the other unique and separate? Or, is it that the most significant thing about Jack is his amorality? It is the undercurrent of amorality, or, some might choose to believe, immorality that drove Film Noir, and this is why "The Croupier" was referred to as Neo-Noir. There is an eerie coldness and bleakness to the story, the characters, sets, lighting, etc. And the amorality tale is told with precision and relish by all involved. This is a great movie if only for the fact that it was so unusual for its time.Owen's performance is not the only one of note. The whole cast is excellent, with Genna McKee a standout as Jack's very moral girlfriend and the one true and tragic victim.

In the title of my review I mention the feel of The Hustler, the classic movie about another sort of addiction (and alcoholism) with Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott, and Piper Laurie. Jack Manfred is an analog to the George C. Scott character, constantly facing the harsh reality of his world and evincing a certain strength of character thereby. Croupier is lighter, yet it deals with several of the same problems faced in a world populated by addicts; plus it packs the added interest of a mystery. The performances are terrific, especially Owen's. As in The Hustler, the audience lies in suspense, weighing with the characters what is the right thing to do and hoping they'll figure it all out. ...For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.Brian Wright Copyright 2008