gavin6942
An aspiring writer (Clive Owen) is hired as a croupier at a casino, where he realizes that his life as a croupier would make a great novel.My interest in gambling movies is about average, though I do find them somewhat interesting in the context of organized crime. That was not a major aspect here, though the movie was not without its unexpected death and shady characters. Lead by Clive Owen, it was a decent little story.I also like that he was not a croupier just for the sake of being a croupier, but also had the idea of writing a book in mind. This then creates the fun of the unreliable narrator... is everything he says true, or is part of this just his fantasy of what would make for a better story?
TwoCrude
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.
ianlouisiana
Deeply Freudian but clever and entertaining,"Croupier" depicts life at the fringes of "The Life"as represented by the workers at a London casino.Here they hang together unless they be hanged separately - so to speak.Peer relationships are complex and deep,group loyalties are fierce and strong when engaged in the constant battle against cheating punters. Uncontrolled movement of large sums of money inevitably attracts violent and dangerous criminals and their threatening presence adds a frisson of fear to the lives of the casino staff who are obliged to cater for them. Mr Clive Owen is excellent as the eponymous croupier who tries to divorce himself from the action at the tables,but finds,against his will,that he is drawn deeper into the demi - monde. Steered towards a job in the casino by his father,Owen finds out too late the truth of Philip Larkin's axiom. "Croupier" is a short,sharp movie that,a decade on,has enhanced its reputation and is a fine antidote to those Guy Ritchie Diamond Geezer fantasies so beloved of would - be Bad Boys who spend their Saturday Nights kicking over traffic bollards and making rude signs at coppers.
noralee
"Croupier" is thinking-person's noir, very much like "Spanish Prisoner" or "House of Games" or "Hard Eight." The voice over doesn't 100% work, but has some rationale as literally a writer's voice.While Clive Owens' intense performance is the primary reason to see the film, it does provide the opportunity to again see Alex Kingston in a role almost as sexy as in TV's "Moll Flanders." It has a nicely complex plot that reverses and turns in and around and keeps you guessing and then swirls back again.It is worth seeing on a big screen.(originally written 5/2/2000)(revised 3/29/2008 as my version submitted on 30 November 2005 offended someone)
AD
