MOVIE · 1998

Croupier

CrimeDramaThriller94 min

Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer who takes a job dealing cards in a London casino and starts treating the room like material: a place where every player has a tell and every loss feels inevitable. Clive Owen is Jack, detached at first, watching gamblers from behind the wheel before the casino world begins to seep into his relationships and the novel he’s trying to write. When one customer draws him into a possible inside job, the line between observer and participant starts to blur. Mike Hodges leans into the film’s British neo-noir mood, with Jack’s cool inner narration tracking the calculations on and off the floor.