Croupier is Crappier
Dateline: 6/08/99
Best known to Americans as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on ER, Alex Kingston has been a star of British stage and screen since she was fifteen. Her credits include roles in films, such as Carrington, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover Her and as Moll Flanders in the Masterpiece Theater production. She is not simply a network television star. She is a trained actress.
But
not even Alex Kingston, could save the new English film Croupier from
its slow plot and boring characters. Ditto Clive Owen as Jack Manfred. He is
certainly handsome, but not quite dynamic enough to pull off a character who
becomes lost in the world of London gamblers. Directed by Mike Hodges, this
film contains none of the timing or suspense of his earlier film Get Carter,
and the final twist at the end does nothing to enlighten or further the movie.
Jack Manfred is a writer who, prompted by his father, takes a job at a casino to make ends meet. To his girlfriend Marion's displeasure, Jack is no stranger to this world, having worked in a casino in South Africa. Soon, Jack is again addicted to watching his punters lose and becomes enchanted by a South African gambler played by Kingston. In a series of awkward seduction scenes, Kingston's character convinces Jack to take a fall from a cheater to distract from the casino robbery. Jack's girlfriend is killed. Jack writes about these experiences and his book becomes a big success. Finally, it turns out that Jack's father was the mastermind behind the robbery. Ta da.
The characters in Croupier are lifeless, self-serving and unbelievable, with the exception of Bella. Bella, played by Kate Hardie, relates to both Jack and his girlfriend, Marion. In one of the two scenes of actual tension and confrontation (the second being Jack's encounter with the first cheater), Bella accuses Jack of ratting on her to the casino management. She also tells his girlfriend of their one night encounter. In the end Jack and Bella are together. It's a pity that while we were being bored with the rest of the movie we weren't allowed to see that relationship unfold.
That might have been a good movie.
Croupier
Running time: 89 minutes. This film is not rated.
Directed by Mike Hodges; Screenwriter: Paul Mayersberg; Distributor: Shooting
Gallery.
Cast: Clive Owen (Jack Manfred), Kate Hardie (Bella), Alex Kingston (Jani de Villiers), Gina McKee (Marion Neil), Alexander Morton (David Reynolds), Nick Reding (Giles Cremorne) and Paul Reynolds (Matt).
picture courtesy of Shooting Gallery
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