Croupier

A struggling writer (Clive Owen) is hired as a croupier, and begins to write a novel based on his experience in the seedy underbelly of casinos.

I quite enjoyed this take on a neo-noir thriller, with its hard-boiled protagonist clacking away at his keyboard, regaling us of his story through voice-over. Clive Owen was the right man for the job - slightly aloof towards his punters while being very much at ease in a shady environment.

It’s not quite a royal flush: I didn’t really buy why he wasn’t a croupier before if he already had the skills he needed, Clive’s hats are very silly and the film has the quality of a 90s UK TV show (which I actually quite enjoyed in a way, but it probably should have looked batter).

The supporting cast are pretty good, and in particular the three women in Clive’s life (Alex Kingston, Gina McKee, Kate Hardie) all bring a lot to the table with contrasting characters.

I’m always drawn to movies about gambling, so forgive my bias, but I’d say Croupier is worth your time if only to see a young Clive Owen (probably?) at his best. I’m also at that age now where I remember 1998 very clearly, and it’s fun to see a film where people are having to do stuff like read maps and jot down phone numbers just to function. At the risk of sounding a bit past-it, it doesn’t seem all that long ago and yet the world was a wildly different place.