Croupier (1998)

Directed by Mike Hodges. Starring Clive Owen, Gina McKee, Alex Kingston, Kate Hardie, Alexander Morton, Nicholas Ball, Nick Reding, Paul Reynolds

Struggling British writer Owen takes a job as a croupier at a London casino to help pay the bills, but finds himself drawn into its seedy but alluring world. Polished but emotionally aloof drama parcels out much of its wisdom through the protagonist’s clammy voiceover, a third-person narration that discusses rules of the profession and insight into gamblers with the same bland precision. Intelligently scripted by Paul Mayersberg, even if it relies on a lapse of logic to arrive at a gratuitous late-game twist, which undermines its study of character and milieu and turns the narrative into a fabricated trick. Although the character he plays may ultimately be too cold for some tastes, this was the movie that put Owen on the international map. Curiously, the film was a flop in its native UK, but did solid business during its limited release in the US.

78/100