Rent Croupier (1998)
3.6 of 5 from 120 ratings
1h 30min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is an aspiring writer going nowhere fast. Taking a job as a casino croupier just to make ends meet, he finds himself seduced by the high stakes world of luck and chance. As the job takes over his life and his relationship to girlfriend Marion (Gina McKee) begins to crumble, Jack's attention is caught by down-on-her-luck gambler Jani (Alex Kingston). Under pressure from her creditors, she asks Jack to be the inside man for a planned heist at the casino. It all sounds so easy. But even a pro can't predict the cards he will be dealt.
- Actors:
- Clive Owen, Nick Reding, Nicholas Ball, Alexander Morton, Barnaby Kay, Gina McKee, John Radcliffe, Sheila Whitfield, David Hamilton, Carol Davis, Eddie Osei, Doremy Vernon, Claudine Carter, Ursula Alberts, Neville Phillips, Paul Reynolds, Kate Hardie, Ozzie Yue, Joanna E. Drummond, Manfred Heiden
- Directors:
- Mike Hodges
- Producers:
- Jonathan Cavendish
- Writers:
- Paul Mayersberg
- Studio:
- Cinema Club
- Genres:
- Documentary, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Films to Watch If You Like..., Films to Watch if You Like: Get Carter
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 05/12/2022
- Run Time:
- 94 minutes
- Languages:
- English Audio Description, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary by film critic Josh Nelson
- Archive audio commentary by director Mike Hodges
- A Streak of Fortune, a new interview with screenwriter Paul Mayersberg about the writing and making of Croupier
- Film, Scones and Fury, a new interview with actress Kate Hardie in which she looks back on the making of Croupier and her friendship with Mike Hodges
- Mike Hodges at the BFI, an archival audio interview with director Mike Hodges from the time of Croupiei's release
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- 'Mike Hodges: A Film-Maker's Life', a new feature-length documentary in which the director of 'Get Carter', 'Flash Gordon', 'Croupier' and many more, talks candidly and in-depth about his whole career with critic David Cairns; shot at Hodges' home in 2022 specially for Arrow Films, this unique portrait of one of Britain's finest film-makers is filled with fascinating insights into the films, their making, and a life dedicated to the moving image
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the main feature
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following:
- Documentary: Mike Hodges: A Film-Maker's Life
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 05/12/2022
- Run Time:
- 94 minutes
- Languages:
- English Audio Description, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary by film critic Josh Nelson
- Archive audio commentary by director Mike Hodges
- A Streak of Fortune, a new interview with screenwriter Paul Mayersberg about the writing and making of Croupier
- Film, Scones and Fury, a new interview with actress Kate Hardie in which she looks back on the making of Croupier and her friendship with Mike Hodges
- Mike Hodges at the BFI, an archival audio interview with director Mike Hodges from the time of Croupiei's release
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- 'Mike Hodges: A Film-Maker's Life', a new feature-length documentary in which the director of 'Get Carter', 'Flash Gordon', 'Croupier' and many more, talks candidly and in-depth about his whole career with critic David Cairns; shot at Hodges' home in 2022 specially for Arrow Films, this unique portrait of one of Britain's finest film-makers is filled with fascinating insights into the films, their making, and a life dedicated to the moving image
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the main feature
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following:
- Documentary: Mike Hodges: A Film-Maker's Life
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Reviews (1) of Croupier
Low budget film noir - Clive Owen's impassive face is perfect for the over-detached central role - Croupier review by RP
Mike Hodges directed the classic Brit gangster film 'Get Carter' - and here he is again, directing another low budget Brit (although, other than a few scene-setting location shots, filmed in Germany) classic film noir, this time starring Clive Owen.
I have always found Clive Owen to be a 'wooden' actor yet here his impassive face is perfect for his central role as a croupier in a casino, observing the punters as they inevitably lose their money.
Clive Owen plays aspiring author Jack Manfred, under pressure from his girlfriend who sees herself living with a successful author. Just for the money, he gets a job as a croupier at a London casino - he's had experience of the job while in S Africa - and uses his observations of the other staff as the basis for a novel. He is approached to be the 'inside man' for a bungled heist, his girlfriend is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and there is an ambiguous ending. But throughout it all, Jack / Jake (the protagonist in his novel) keeps a detached view on the gambling world and its losers...
It's not a thriller, it's quite slow moving, there's no crash-bang-wallop (there is a little bit of violence and mild sex scenes), and the attempted heist is a very minor part of the story. But the atmosphere and the cool, over-calculating presence of the perhaps unnaturally detached central character, Jack / Jake the croupier, is quite remarkable.
5/5 stars - excellent.
[Aside: Mike Hodges also directed Clive Owen in the slow-moving, atmospheric 2003 Brit gangster film 'I'll Sleep When I'm Dead' - that's another of those films you either love or hate. Me, I quite liked it...]
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.