Review of Croupier (1998) by Chris M — 20 Nov 2009

This is a great 'little' film, tightly plotted at barely 90 minutes long. Clive Owen is onscreen virtually the whole time and gives a terrific performance, utterly believable as croupier, aspiring writer, and generally cynical / miserable git.

I didn't realise that the director was Mike Hodges, who also gave us the fantastic original version of Get Carter. There are strong similarities here, exploring the often very grubby, seedy day-to-day existence behind the scenes of 'glamorous' casinos. It's sometimes like a kitchen-sink drama, but a pretty grotty sink...!