Search - Croupier on DVD

Stunning lead performance in otherwise average film

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 09/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is basically a decent movie held together by an absolutely stunning lead performance. In fact, Clive Owen is so spectacular as Jack Manfred, a writer who once again takes a job as a croupier in an English casino, a job he has despised in the past, that he actually makes what would otherwise be a decent film a semi-great one. The film in the end fails to achieve true greatness, primarily because of narrative difficulties and a gimmicky plot twist near the end that leaves an unpleasant taste in one's mouth with its triviality. But that is the director and writer's fault, and not Owen's. His character, gradually getting sucked into the world he abandoned, suffers a spiritual crisis as he becomes increasingly detached and evolves into a dispassionate and detached observer. There is a plot, but to be honest the story completely failed to hold my attention and I'm not sure it deserved my time. Clive Owen, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether.



Although this is one of the most riveting performances by an actor in recent years, Owen was sadly not eligible for an Academy Award nomination because the film was shown on Dutch TV before nominations were made. Because it was a relatively low budget film that received scant notice in the United States, showing almost exclusively in art houses, it is entirely possible that Owen might not have been acknowledged with a nomination even if he had been eligible, but it would have been interesting to find out. What is marvelous about his performance is the way he manages to appear completely dispassionate while at the same time containing powerful emotional reserves. He seems an intensely passionate individual who has completely internalized his passions. Incredibly, Owen's best moments are when he is working at a croupier, speaking only as the demands of his trade require, while we listen to his narrating what he is observing, apparently a narration that forms the text of the book he is writing. I heard Owen interviewed on NPR and there he stated that he insisted on doing the narration first, and then they would shoot the scenes with the narration playing, allowing him to express facially what the words articulate. Owen has great eyes, and he recalls the old expression that the eyes are the windows of the soul.



If anyone other than Clive Owen had the lead in this film, it would almost certainly have been, at best, average. As it is, his performance drives the entire film to something very nearly great. One of the problems that I have always had with auteur theory is that in many films it will lead one to privilege the director as the creative force, while in many cases the director clearly plays a subservient role. Sometimes that crucial figure is the producer, sometimes the writer. In at least one case, THE LIMEY (and without meaning to take anything away from director Stephen Soderbergh), editor Sarah Flack has as much claim as anyone to claim the title "auteur." In this film, that distinction belongs to Owen.



For some reason of which I am unaware, this film was long unavailable in the United States in any form. I missed it when it first hit the theaters in 1999, so I was delighted when I discovered that it was finally available in DVD. That lack of availability has led, I believe, to Clive Owen being less well known than he deserves. He did go on to make a celebrated series of BMW commercials directed by major film directors such as Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer, Tony Scott, John Woo, and several cutting edge action directors, and memorably appeared in Robert Altman's GOSFORD PARK and another Mike Hodges film BETTER OFF DEAD. This summer saw him in the unfortunate KING ARTHUR in the title role. The next year or so will feature Owen in a variety of releases, which will hopefully bring him more of the notice he deserves."