A croupier is a dealer in charge of a gaming table. As simply put, a dealer who is there to watch you win or lose. The dealer's main concern is that you lose. In director Mike Hodge's latest crime caper, "Croupier," Jack is one of those dealers, keenly aware of every move you make, including the people he knows outside the casino.
Clive Owen plays Jack as a cool, detached wanna-be novelist, told to write a book on soccer. He is living with his uncouth girlfriend, Marion (Gina McKee), whom he only "half-loves." Marion is a store detective with vaguely romantic notions about writers. But Jack is virtually bankrupt on any story ideas - he needs inspiration. It finally comes when his gambler father (Nicholas Ball) advises him to take a job at the Golden Lion, a London casino. Jack is interviewed and gets the job, much to the disappointment of Marion who prefers for him to stay home and write, and sleep the same hours she does.
Jack is an expert on counting cards and counting money - he is quick, smart and clever, nothing can escape him. He also never gambles. As we are told in narration by Jake, Jack's literary alter-ego (the basis for the book he is writing on his own experiences), the croupiers are there to watch you lose. There is also the complete detachment expected from croupiers towards other clientele, or clients. Nevertheless, Jack's alter-ego takes over and breaks all the rules he so steadfastly held. He has a brief affair with Bella (Katie Hardie), a drug-addicted croupier, and parties with another croupier who is stealing from the casino. Jack also gets involved with a femme fatale, Jani De Villiers (Alex Kingston from TV's "E.R."), a regular player at the Golden Lion who sees, literally, a wealth of opportunities with Jack, if he complies to her plans.
"Croupier" never makes a wrong move in plotting or characterization, but its main strength is the character of Jack. My favorite films are usually the most subjective, and this is also true of "Croupier," which features Jack in every single scene. Every move he makes is seen from his point-of-view, or heard by the reliable use of narration. Jack is at firsthand unlikable, and perhaps untrustworthy, but slowly we start to sympathize with him, understanding that he is doing a job he does not like solely for creative inspiration. A great scene is when Marion reads the first few chapters of his book and says she does not like it, claiming it has no hope and that the character is a zombie. Jack counterattacks, asking her if her job as a store detective makes her happy.
If the film does not quite strike the vivid chord of film noir or neo-noir at its best, it is largely due to the casting of Alex Kingston as the conniving, sexual predator Janni. She is meant to be a seductress but is too homely and innocent to make the character convincing (imagine Anne Archer as a seductress and you may know what I mean). Don't get me wrong, I love Kingston, and her work in "E.R." is extraordinary, but she is better suited to less dangerous character parts.
One other minor gripe is that I wish I saw more of Marion - a character who understands Jack all too well. She knows what he thinks, how he behaves, and she is aware that she cheats on her with Bella, but she still loves him and wants to marry him. Marion is a complex character to be sure, if only there were more of her to do Jack's character real justice.
Otherwise, "Croupier" is an exciting, lean, and electrifying film - atmosphere and style are essential to noir landscapes and this film has it in spades. Clive Owen shows remarkable chaste and suaveness in Jack, exuding double the charisma and coolness fo someone like Pierce Brosnan. Finally, Owen shows us that Jack may think he knows every trick in the book when playing cards, but he also finds that life plays its own tricks as well.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/
E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at jerry@movieluver.com or at Faust667@aol.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews