Croupier

Jack Manfred dreams of being a writer and keeps the day job at a casino to pay the rent. He moves through the gaming floor as a keen observer, convinced that life is a game of odds and that luck favors no one. Slowly he is drawn into the casino's orbit, notebook in hand, chronicling the pulse of chips, cards, and high stakes. The pressure of the environment takes a toll on his personal life and on the novel he's trying to finish. As chance tightens its grip, Jack confronts how much of himself he has to lose in order to tell the truth. The line between spectator and participant grows finer by the day.

Mike Hodges directs from Paul Mayersberg's sharp script. The 1998 release pairs Clive Owen with a strong British ensemble including Kate Hardie, Alex Kingston, Gina McKee and Nicholas Ball, delivering a compact crime drama.

Clive Owen's restrained performance as Jack Manfred helped him emerge as a leading figure in British cinema, a turning point that people still point to when discussing his early work. The film's cool visual palette and uncluttered storytelling stand apart from more glossy casino thrillers, and it remains a reference for moody crime dramas that focus on character over spectacle.

Critics noted the film's precise tone and the way it probes risk and moral ambiguity. The story treats luck less as fate and more as a test of ethics, exposing how desire and insecurity shape choices. Hodges keeps dialogue crisp and the mood cool, allowing tension to build from consequences rather than fireworks.

Box office data for Croupier are not widely reported. The film had a modest release, earning modestly in the United Kingdom and select markets, and it found a longer life on home video and in discussions of late 1990s crime cinema.