|
"Don't get married Jack, casino work doesn't mix with house and garden"...just one of the classic lines of advice issued by casino management to Jack (Clive Owen) when he was starting out in his new job as Croupier in an upmarket London casino.
The honest croupier who really wanted to write novels for a living found the literary life very tough going and jumped at the chance of a job interview provided by his father, played by Nicholas Ball. Ball was a gambler and his protégé son knew that.. saying "that gamblers are born liars"
Jacks experience in the casinos of Sun City in south Africa soon made him a popular member of staff with management, attaining his required 40 spins per hour.
It is unusual for a film to be such a success in the USA and a flop in the UK where it was made by Filmfour and a German co-production team. Because of it success in the states it was re-released again in 2001 as a result of Clive Owens near nomination for an Oscar in this years awards. Owen's excellent acting well suited the role he was playing and this was fine tuned by under the excellent directorship of Mike Hodges who has been compared in the past to a modern day Stanley Kubrik.
Hodges cut his directing teeth on TV documentary in the early days before moving to feature film and he really succeeded in directing a film that kept the audience alert and wondering till the very end. As with all of Hodges work , the punchline is worth waiting for.
The story revolved around Jack's casino ethics of never gambling and his ex-policewoman girl friend Marion(Gina McKee). She discovers a stash of money in the apartment. .. This was cash advanced by a dubious South African punter 'Jani' played by Alex Kingston who appeared to be down on her luck
It was the seed money for a bigger reward if he played his part right in a planned Christmas eve robbery of the casino. Jack regarded the money as not gambling but advance payment for services rendered. Avoiding the post work R + R parties he continued to write his novel which moved away from his original assignment of a soccer novel involving sex and match rigging in the football championship to 'Jake' the croupier at the casino.
Hodges recreated the entire interior of a London casino in the German film studios and trained the lead actors for two weeks , exactly how to count and work the tables and this detail was very much in evidence in the film.
Needless to say I wont spoil the end for you, but do check it out..... as Jack said " I am not an enigma, just a contradiction"
Reviewed by Tomer Avshalom August 2001
|
