Croupier is an excellent icy-cool noir film. The movie has a David Mamet feel to it. I really enjoyed this movie, but the last 30 minutes left me a bit bewildered. Clive Owen is fantastic as the calm and cool Jack Manfred. A struggling writer, Jack takes up an offer from his seemingly estranged relationship with his bizarre dad to interview at a Casino for a Croupier job. Jack gets the job to the consternation of his girlfriend, Marion, who seems to be bi-polar. The requisite cast of delicious characters at the casino elevates Jack's coolness factor as he narrates in the 3rd person throughout the movie - to great effect. Croupier is a classic character study. The ethics & rules that Jack has placed upon him thru his employer get strained and blurred. The robbery scene was very disjointed and confusing - what happened? The death of Marion left more questions than answers and the revelation that Jack's dad was in fact behind the casino robbery was not developed enough. The movie flows so neatly and clean, I think it could have gone another 10 - 15 minutes with more development of the loose ends.

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.

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

Jack: The world breaks everyone, and afterwards many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break, it kills - it kills the very good, and the very gentle, and the very brave, impartially. If you are none of these, you can be sure it will kill you, too, but there will be no special hurry.Croupier is a refreshing little indie film with a lot to admire in it. The plot is smart for the most part, even if it does drag towards the middle. The acting is all very good, but the stand-out is Clive Owen. 'Croupier' gains it's real power from the subtle yet marvelous performance by Clive Owen as the suave, cool but ultimately unhappy writer turned casino croupier. The plot has nice twists and turns, but really the best thing about this film is Clive Owen. Owen is an actor I recently gained a lot of respect for after seeing him consecutively in such great films as 'Children of Men' and of course 'Closer' for which he received an Academy Award Nomination. 'Croupier' is an interesting little crime caper, that although isn't big, spectacular and extremely exciting, offers first-rate performances, solid writing and decent directing. Grade: B