Description

All bets are off in London's gambling world when struggling writer Jack Manfred (Gosford Park's Clive Owen) accepts his father's offer of a job as a croupier, out the cards of fate and fortune each night to casino patrons. As his relationship with his girlfriend, Marion (Notting Hill's Gina McKee), suffers from the strain of his new job, Jack finds his eye roving to a seductive gambler, Jani (ER's Alex Kingston), who lures him into a dangerous robbery scheme with Jack positioned as the inside man. A critical and commercial smash, this delicious British thriller from director Mike Hodges (Get Carter) and writer Paul Mayersberg (The Last Samurai) is a solid winner from start to finish! ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Yes, Virginia, there really is film noir past the 1940's !
Stylish British flick. Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) has run out of money while struggling to write his first novel. (Shades of Sunset Blvd!)

He has experience as a croupier, a job he loathes, thanks to the influence of his father, a perennial flake who never runs out of big dreams, currently eking a living as a hotel bartender.

Jack is barely on speaking terms with him, alternatively disgusted and bemused by the old man's sleazyness. Nevertheless, he needs a job badly and so when his father informs him of an opening, he re-enters the nightlife world of London casinos, dealing cards to posh, well dressed suckers. "Welcome to the house of addiction." As Jack puts it.

However, unlike his father, Jack NEVER gambles , it's a point of pride with him. So what could possibly go wrong?

The answer of course is everything.

Starting with his first night on the job when he meets his half dressed sultry co-worker, Bella.

Bella: "How do I look?"
Jack : (Voice Over) LIKE TROUBLE!
Jack : "Fine."

We've got three (count 'em !) femme fatales, endearing and deadly in their own way, and cynically beautifull noir-loner speeches that sound as if they came out of Double Indemnity or The Maltese Falcon:

" The world breaks everyone. And afterwards, many are strong at the broken places. Those that will not break, it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave, impartially. If you are none of these things it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry."

And the plot twists on. . .

Clive Owen's debut finally re-released in the US!
I've been looking for a commerically available Region 1 version of Croupier for quite some time now. I was so excited to see that its being re-released that I had to check other sources to make sure its not a glitch. But, yes indeed, Croupier is scheduled to be re-released March 9, 2004!

As for the film itself, this film introduced Americans to Clive Owen. It opened the doors for Clive's recent film roles in the BMW Films "The Hire," "Gosford Park," "Bourne Identity," "Beyond Borders" and upcoming starring role in "King Authur" (not to mention the James Bond rumors. I've also heard good things about the Brit TV miniseries "Second Sight.") Don't expect a Hollywood thriller here. This modern update of the film noir genre is shot to create disconnect and confusion, and the characters are gritty and flawed. The film centers around Jack Manfred, a struggling-writer-turned-card-dealer. Jack moves through his life like a ghost, detached and disinterested in the events of his own life. Alex Kingston's character Jani de Villiers enters his life and adds color to Jack's dark world. Jani is the femme fatale to Jack's postmodern hard-boiled hero, but I love that Jack and Jani's relationship does not develop in the way you would expect. Overall, an enjoyable film for indie film lovers and a must for Clive Owen fans.

Cool, Ironic, Understated Mayhem
A struggling writer who's a talented cardsman gets a job as a croupier, thanks to his father, in a London casino. From there the film moves into a complicated scheme to rob the casino, with violence and double dealing along the way. The one unexpected bit of retribution that hits Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) has emotional power. The ending is not exactly nihilistic, but has more than a bit of irony.

Mike Hodges, who directed the first-rate Get Carter with Michael Caine, brings the same cool approach here. Owen is perfect in the lead, and the rest of the cast is excellent. Croupier is a very good story very well done.

The DVD transfer also is excellent. There are no extras.

Quintessential Guy's Movie.
Well, of course their are no car chases (that's a joke) but this is a film most men will love. What there is in the film is an excellent plot that's so clever it ought to have a PhD from Harvard. I guarantee that the ending will surprise you. The lead character's travails are fascinating and will cause many a man to feel envy. I personally never thought much about what it would be like to be a dealer, or croupier, before I saw it but I gained an honest appreciation for what their jobs entail by watching it. Its also a film for writers.

Nice British character study
A nice British character study of a struggling writer, Jack Manfred, who goes back to his former love, being a croupier. He gets a job at a low-scale casino and decides to write a book about his own experience. His wife does not want him to lead the life of a croupier and, spurred on by an affair he is caught in, leaves him. Jack gets attached to a shady customer, who makes him an offer that might change his life.

Manfred has a priviledged perspective on gambling, being able to discern the psychological flaws of everyone around him, much like Matt Damon's character in Rounders (a cliché but interesting movie precisely because of that). In the same way, Croupier goes beyond the relatively simple story by having Manfred always narrating the events as he sees them in his own worldview. It provodes a lot more depth in his character and the movie in general.

Manfred is not a cruel character, but his love of croupier work, and how it intimately relates to his own life, gives him a detached quality. I would say he is definitely an egoist character, and has no qualms in examining moral issues dispassionately. Very refreshing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Director Tobe Hooper was a hot property after he scored a popular hit with Poltergeist (thanks in part to producer Steven Spielberg), so his follow-up film was the most wildly ambitious of his career to date. Armed with a big budget and a special effects crew led by Star Wars pioneer John Dykstra, Hooper and Alien cowriter Dan O'Bannon whipped up a movie that must be seen to be believed. That's not really a compliment, since Lifeforce isn't much of a movie when all the sound and fury is over. But you've got to admit there's something crazily admirable about a movie that starts out as a science fiction adventure about a mission to explore Halley's comet, turns into an alien-invasion thriller featuring a beautiful naked woman (Mathilda May) who's a vampire from space, and escalates into an end-of-the-world disaster flick! It's got everything you could want from a horror movie--from zombies running amok in London to rotting corpses and energy bolts to signal the apocalypse to come! Holding it all together is Steve Railsback as the Halley mission survivor who holds the key to mankind's salvation--but what fun is saving the world when you could be seduced by a sexy naked space vampire? Check out Lifeforce to see how it all turns out. The widescreen DVD includes 15 minutes of footage not seen in U.S. theaters, an eight-page booklet of production notes and trivia, and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (74)

Totally Weird And Berserk, But It Still Works Somehow
Easily one of the strangest meldings of science fiction and horror ever put onscreen, the 1985 film LIFEFORCE is unquestionably flawed by some less-than-impressive acting and dialogue that is disjointed to the point where it dangerously approaches being laughable. Somehow, however, the two styles do come together well enough to paper over the film's cracks.

Based on Colin Wilson's 1976 cult novel "The Space Vampires", LIFEFORCE focuses on a joint US-British space crew who venture to Halley's Comet aboard the space shuttle Churchill and find an alien spaceship inside the comet's coma. Found inside the spaceship are the occupants, who have the appearance of giant bats.

Flash forward, as Churchill approaches Earth's orbit. When there is no response from the shuttle, a rescue team lifts off from Florida onboard Columbia...and finds the interior of Churchill completely gutted by fire. But the three alien occupants that remain, encased in glass, are completely unscathed--and incredibly, look absolutely perfect to begin with.

The aliens are bought back to the British Space Research Center in London...and without warning, they come alive--especially the female one (Mathilda May), who goes around for much of the rest of the film nude. The aliens are space vampires; but instead of sucking the blood from their victims via bite wounds, they drain the victims of their lifeforce. All three escape into the London streets, prepared to cause the ultimate mayhem.

The SRC's chief (Frank Finlay) and a British agent (Peter Firth), however, have come into contact with the surviving crew member (Steve Railsback) of Churchill; and together, the three of them try to track the vampires down. May is their particular target, as she seems to be in contact with Railsback telepathically. But because she moves from body to body, they remain behind her every step of the way. By the end of the film, the spaceship that had been inside Halley's Comet is in a geostationary orbit over London. The vampires have spread their deadly plague all across the city, causing the entire populace to become either dessicated or turn into zombies. It is up to Railsback to stop the vampiric madness on his own.

A more bizarre story, or a more bizarre approach, might be very difficult to find even today. Most of the film's flaws are in the less-than-coherent script by longtime screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby (BLUE THUNDER). Somehow, though, the film is pulled into shape, at least in terms of genre requirements, by director Tobe Hooper, whose films POLTERGEIST and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE are indisputable horror film classics. The acting isn't exactly top notch, though Railsback, who was excellent in films like HELTER SKELTER and THE STUNT MAN, tries gamely; the script again is the culprit here.

But two things make LIFEFORCE work effectively enough. One is the incredible special effects work of John Dykstra, who is best known for working on STAR WARS and parts of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE; his effects for LIFEFORCE still hold up after more than a decade and a half. The other is the fine music score by Henry Mancini. One wouldn't expect a score somewhat similar to John Williams' STAR WARS music to come from the composer of film scores like DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES or THE PINK PANTHER, but Mancini does indeed come up with a big one, including a main theme scherzo not unlike the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony--and he uses the London Symphony Orchestra to boot!

Realistically, no one will mistake LIFEFORCE for STAR WARS, much less 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. But as a totally weird, berserk, and unique sci-fi shocker, it does deliver the goods in its own way.

Space Strip-Tease
Colin Wilson's adult sci-fi novel, The Space Vampires, becomes Tobe Hooper's juvenile - but sporadically satisfying - 1980s apocalyptic gore-fest.

Steve Railsback is the sole survivor of a failed mission to explore Halley's Comet, after discovering a miles-long alien spaceship containing numerous dessicated bat-creatures and three perfectly preserved humanoids. Earth recovers the humanoids, which reanimate and wreak havoc in London. Their leader, sexy space-vamp Mathilda May - wearing a predatory smile, and literally nothing else - is in psychic contact with Railsback, whose allegiances are torn between helping Earth defense forces track her down and destroy her before she can initiate an apocalypse, or joining forces with her.

The first twenty minutes or so, up until the point that May murders a security guard and escapes a European Space Agency lab, are fabulous. After that, the movie goes south quickly. Dan O'Bannon's script then becomes difficult to follow. Numerous scenes are so melodramatically handled that they turn comedic, the special effects go wild, and suddenly the clever sci-fi detective story becomes an out-of-control end-of-the-world movie. The entire last act comes out of nowhere, and makes little sense.

The production is lavish. The cinematography is beautiful. Henry Mancini provides a lush and usually effective score. The effects are excellent, but severely overused. The cast consists of top-notch actors, though it's often hard to tell because they have to out-shout the end of the world going on around them.

The movie is worthwhile, if for no other reason than May's space vampire. She's sexy as hell, and is so centered and focused that she manages to be terrifying the whole while she's stark naked - and with a body as phenomenal as hers, that's saying something.

SLEEPING BOOBIES ......
EXCEPT for the still unsurpassed utter seediness of AUDREY MORRIS [Mr. Deltoid from 'Clockwork Orange'] as Sir Percy - this one's quite a hoot in acting class ..... this is HOW NOT to do it on screen and Boys and Girls - we DO have a stellar [pardon that pun] cast] - including Patrick Stewart [mouth to mouthing Steve Railback whitst posessed]; the venerable Frank Finlay [Iago to Oliver's Othello], just too many to mention - it's a hoot watching those guys trying to upstage each other in this futile little blast from a somewhat now dismissed Tobe [Texas Chainsaw Massacre]Hooper.

The effects? [Oh Dear, why is everyone floating yet a technician in full frame is on his feet???]

One can go on ........ [as for the uncanny Nicole Kidman lookalike ..... startling!]

QUARTERMASS is much more fun - this poor alien stepchild is somewhere between them all - but worth a rumble or two .....

lifeforce wish
very good movie but i'd like to see it come out in widescreen anamorphic or full screen

How to explain this film to your girlfriend . . . .
The story is bad, the acting is terrible, and the special effects are lame. So, is there anything worthy of mentioning about this film? Yes, the fact that Mathilda May appears completely nude is worth admission and believe me she does indeed look great. With that out of the way, I must say that this film is certainly a guilty pleasure of mine simply because of Mathilda May. There is one interesting thing that I noticed about this film and I recently shared it with one of my lady friends who considers the film nothing but sexist eye candy. Whether or not it was Tobe Hopper's intention the film does indeed hint at the concept of female superiority. Notice that when the three aliens are discovered the female is in the center of the two males and elevated above them (think of it as a medal presentation where the female is in the gold medal spot). Also, realize that the two males are killed off almost immediately whereas the female escapes by kicking some serious male butt. The scene where she is coming down the stairs putting guys on their knees has got to be one of my favorites. And let's not mention the power that she has over Carlsen. So, if you're ever called a pig for watching this film just point out these little interesting points . . . my lady friend admitted that she has a whole new appreciation for the film! But regardless of the fact that Ms. May is nude, the film really is not very good and it gets three stars simply because I'm in such a good mood. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

They Shouldn't Have Messed With The Book
The novel, by Geoffrey Household, is well-paced and builds to a satisfying climax based on profound revelations. The movie pushes those revelations to the beginning, which robs the main character of his motivation to swing into action at the end. I enjoyed the movie to a point, but this is one of those cases where the film makers would have done better to stay more consistent with the book.

Rogue Male
I had seen this movie on TV once. It is a good movie, very interesting and holds your interest. My only complaint is the quality of the VHS tape I received. Color and sound were of poor quality and small portion of tape was unviewable. I know this was a TV movie, but I would think there would be a better quality transfer to VHS tape.

The "Rogue Male" is Superb!!
I saw this movie 6 years ago and wondered how I'd missed it for so long. O'toole gives an awesome performance as he fumbles and then haphazardly (with the greatest of luck) eludes his pursuers. This movie puts a great spin on the statement "what if" some one had killed Hitler, though it is in no way a documentary. It's the "CAT & MOUSE" standard in my book!!

ENJOY.

awesome o toole
Beautiful reparte's by OToole trashing Germans ... Read more

Amazon.com

Suffering from a bad case of writer's block, author Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) sits in his London flat, staring at an empty computer screen and trying to find the words to narrate his meandering life. Reluctantly Jack accepts a job from his absentee father (Nicholas Ball) at a second-rate casino as a dealer, or croupier, a job he once held in South Africa. His immersion back into this world is intoxicating, thanks primarily to the power he holds over his nightly clientele. Jack is a straight arrow on the floor (unlike his coworkers) but the whisper of an inside-job robbery makes his life suddenly more intriguing, as do the women who begin to drift into his life: a fellow croupier (Kate Hardie) and an alluring gambler (Alex Kingston). Suddenly, Jack finds his own life is his best book material. There's something visceral about watching the world of gambling, and director Mike Hodges (who directed the original Get Carter) taps into this allure; Jack's simple croupier tryout--handling cards and chips with skill and grace--is as captivating as most action scenes in big popcorn films. In the end, this little film, which went on to become an art-house hit, is as unpredictable as a roll of the dice. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Yes, Virginia, there really is film noir past the 1940's !
Stylish British flick. Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) has run out of money while struggling to write his first novel. (Shades of Sunset Blvd!)

He has experience as a croupier, a job he loathes, thanks to the influence of his father, a perennial flake who never runs out of big dreams, currently eking a living as a hotel bartender.

Jack is barely on speaking terms with him, alternatively disgusted and bemused by the old man's sleazyness. Nevertheless, he needs a job badly and so when his father informs him of an opening, he re-enters the nightlife world of London casinos, dealing cards to posh, well dressed suckers. "Welcome to the house of addiction." As Jack puts it.

However, unlike his father, Jack NEVER gambles , it's a point of pride with him. So what could possibly go wrong?

The answer of course is everything.

Starting with his first night on the job when he meets his half dressed sultry co-worker, Bella.

Bella: "How do I look?"
Jack : (Voice Over) LIKE TROUBLE!
Jack : "Fine."

We've got three (count 'em !) femme fatales, endearing and deadly in their own way, and cynically beautifull noir-loner speeches that sound as if they came out of Double Indemnity or The Maltese Falcon:

" The world breaks everyone. And afterwards, many are strong at the broken places. Those that will not break, it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave, impartially. If you are none of these things it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry."

And the plot twists on. . .

Clive Owen's debut finally re-released in the US!
I've been looking for a commerically available Region 1 version of Croupier for quite some time now. I was so excited to see that its being re-released that I had to check other sources to make sure its not a glitch. But, yes indeed, Croupier is scheduled to be re-released March 9, 2004!

As for the film itself, this film introduced Americans to Clive Owen. It opened the doors for Clive's recent film roles in the BMW Films "The Hire," "Gosford Park," "Bourne Identity," "Beyond Borders" and upcoming starring role in "King Authur" (not to mention the James Bond rumors. I've also heard good things about the Brit TV miniseries "Second Sight.") Don't expect a Hollywood thriller here. This modern update of the film noir genre is shot to create disconnect and confusion, and the characters are gritty and flawed. The film centers around Jack Manfred, a struggling-writer-turned-card-dealer. Jack moves through his life like a ghost, detached and disinterested in the events of his own life. Alex Kingston's character Jani de Villiers enters his life and adds color to Jack's dark world. Jani is the femme fatale to Jack's postmodern hard-boiled hero, but I love that Jack and Jani's relationship does not develop in the way you would expect. Overall, an enjoyable film for indie film lovers and a must for Clive Owen fans.

Cool, Ironic, Understated Mayhem
A struggling writer who's a talented cardsman gets a job as a croupier, thanks to his father, in a London casino. From there the film moves into a complicated scheme to rob the casino, with violence and double dealing along the way. The one unexpected bit of retribution that hits Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) has emotional power. The ending is not exactly nihilistic, but has more than a bit of irony.

Mike Hodges, who directed the first-rate Get Carter with Michael Caine, brings the same cool approach here. Owen is perfect in the lead, and the rest of the cast is excellent. Croupier is a very good story very well done.

The DVD transfer also is excellent. There are no extras.

Quintessential Guy's Movie.
Well, of course their are no car chases (that's a joke) but this is a film most men will love. What there is in the film is an excellent plot that's so clever it ought to have a PhD from Harvard. I guarantee that the ending will surprise you. The lead character's travails are fascinating and will cause many a man to feel envy. I personally never thought much about what it would be like to be a dealer, or croupier, before I saw it but I gained an honest appreciation for what their jobs entail by watching it. Its also a film for writers.

Nice British character study
A nice British character study of a struggling writer, Jack Manfred, who goes back to his former love, being a croupier. He gets a job at a low-scale casino and decides to write a book about his own experience. His wife does not want him to lead the life of a croupier and, spurred on by an affair he is caught in, leaves him. Jack gets attached to a shady customer, who makes him an offer that might change his life.

Manfred has a priviledged perspective on gambling, being able to discern the psychological flaws of everyone around him, much like Matt Damon's character in Rounders (a cliché but interesting movie precisely because of that). In the same way, Croupier goes beyond the relatively simple story by having Manfred always narrating the events as he sees them in his own worldview. It provodes a lot more depth in his character and the movie in general.

Manfred is not a cruel character, but his love of croupier work, and how it intimately relates to his own life, gives him a detached quality. I would say he is definitely an egoist character, and has no qualms in examining moral issues dispassionately. Very refreshing. ... Read more