Rating: 
Summary: SLEEPER HIT OF 2000
Review: The best movie of the year. CROUPIER delivers. The writing is grade A and the acting is superb. Clive Owen should've been nominated for the best actor award. He plays Jack Manfred, a writer looking for material for his first novel. Not getting anywhere he takes a job his father lands him at the casino. A life he's all too familiar with.
Looking for a way out Jack gets sucked right back in. Always calculating the odds, Jack is a perfectionist, a natural. Everyone knows when gambling there are no guarantees but what Jack learns is that, that is not even a guarantee. Forget about the overblown action films and see this movie today. Croupier is one of my top 15 films of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: "Welcome back, Jack, to the House of Addiction."
Review: In the film, "Croupier" Jack Manfred (Clive Owen) is a writer--well he would be if he could come up with anything to write after the title. Jack, a former croupier from South Africa, is living with store detective, former police officer Marian (Gina McKee) in a cramped basement flat. While staring at his typewriter one day, Jack receives a phone call from his ne'er-do-well dad who gives him an 'in' to a London casino. Is it boredom, addiction, poverty, or just the need for book material that drives Jack back into the casino world? Perhaps those are all possible reasons for Jack's swift acceptance of the high-paying job as a croupier--a profession Jack emphatically says he loathes. But while Jack may loathe the job, he's also undeniably good at it--that much is apparent when he deals cards--but he is also especially satisfied when he scoops up the money from all the losers who play at his table. Jack is at home in the casino. It's a world he's very familiar with, and once he accepts the job, he becomes increasingly more comfortable with his role. Jack feels that "now he had become the still centre of that spinning wheel of misfortune."Jack's career move causes trouble on the domestic front. Marian, who states "she wants to live with a writer--not a croupier" feels threatened by Jack's new life, and it's true that their schedules conflict, but she also senses that there's a whole side to Jack that she doesn't understand or accept. Jack remains impervious to Marian's complaints, and as he's started to actually write a novel, he can't very well give up the casino at this point. But further complications loom on the horizon--the casino maintains very strict rules about friendships between casino employees, and casino employees are not allowed to socialize with casino guests. Jack proceeds to quietly violate all these rules. He establishes relationships with a female croupier, Bella, and a mysterious South African gambler named Jani de Villiers. In flouting casino rules, Jack gambles with more than just his job. Clive Owen is always interesting to watch, and the role of the disaffected Jack Manfred is perfect for him. An actor with less talent would play this role as a zombie, but Owen merely seems rather removed and cold about it all. Gina McKee as Jack's girlfriend, Marian was marvellous. At first, as a couple they seem quite well-matched, but then a seamless shift occurred, and Marian is seen as Jack's intellectual inferior. Gina McKee plays her role well as the power centre in Marian's relationship with Jack shifts, and she adjusts from being the understanding, supportive girlfriend to the accusatory whistle-blower. I know nothing at all about gambling, casinos, etc, and so this fresh background was fascinating for me.The film kept me riveted to the edge of my seat, guessing to the end--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: british surpass us in film and story in the movies
Review: I have seen this film a million times, I got it one day
just browsing through a hollywood video!
Clive Owen, how cool is this guy, and he holds your
interest as Jack, who is too cynical and burned out
to care what anyone thinks or feels.
Jack becomes a black jack dealer to make himself be
a writer, but in a way, you never really know what his
heart really longs for.
British movies in my opinion are better written and the
the characters are more interesting.
Check this film out if you like dark and moody!
Rating: 
Summary: Flabbergasted - all about the numbers?!
Review: The fact that 24 out of 25 reviews on this site hold that this movie is excellent causes me to seriously question the the overall competence of the human species. This movie is not smart. Its attempts at dramatic tension fail. There are so many anomalous scenes that are jarringly bizarre, and yet they don't work together at all. In the last ten minutes, the screenwriter transparently feels a need to cleverly tie back all the characters together in a random collage of uninteresting, undeveloped people. It wants to be Usual Suspects, but is more like... Nothing comes to mind. This movie is horrendously written, bizarrely edited, and will make you long for the two hours back.
Rating:
Summary: Croupier
Review: This is one of the most original, exceptional movies I have ever seen. Not a moment in this film was boring. Clive Owen is quite good as Jack Manfred, the lost writer who takes a job as a croupier. Since she is my favourite actress (and actor for that matter), Alex Kingston really stood out for me as Jani, the woman who meets Jack and tells him that she needs his help to get her out of debt, by trying to stop her creditors from making a heist on a casino. Great atmospheric direction and cinematography, addictive script...the list goes on and on and on!
Rating:
Summary: Re:Review from Mr. Bullock from Austin
Review: I have the DVD, it's a great quality picture and sound and no the film is not edited. The DVD is 94 minutes as is the official running time of the movie. If you didn't understand the ending, you just didn't understand the ending! So it's fullscreen, big deal, put a soother in your mouth and go to bed. A fabulous movie and DVD all around, nuff said!
Rating:
Summary: Great Film - Bad DVD !!
Review: Croupier is a fantastic film, but, this DVD has been edited for content to the degree that the story doesn't make sense. Also, the DVD version has been formatted to fit your television screen. I was very disappointed in the DVD release of this otherwise absolutely superb film
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this DVD
Review: I am a Clive Owen fan and first saw Croupier in the theatre when it was released and I have been eager to own a copy on DVD ever since. I just bought the DVD listed above and to my complete disgust, this version of Croupier has been both edited for content and formatted to fit the television screen. The content editing is so severe that it leaves the story without a plausable ending. I was so disappointed because Croupier is indeed a five star story and I had waited some time to get this film on DVD only to feel utterly .... DO NOT BUY THIS DVD...you will be sorely disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: On The Job Training
Review: Can you find yourself through your vocation? Does anyone exist without guilt? A very disturbing exploration of identity, responsibility, loss and morality. Clive Owen is perfectly cast as a second generation Casino brat with ambitions of being a writer. Just like Owen's character, the film's identity is in a constant state of contradiction, is it a pulp thriller or is it high art. In the end, we learn that it can be both. Great neo-noir.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film
Review: Can't describe how satisfying this dark little film is. Very stylish, fascinating and well-crafted, and there are several unexpected twists and nuances that make repeated viewings all the more pleasurable. The DVD is barebones, but it's ultimately all about having a clear picture that won't deteriorate, and I rarely desire to know every shred of hype and production detail. Fans of the BBC and British cinema will be pleased to see several familiar faces, and ER fans should know that Alex Kingston bares all (not the first time). Overall, a nice modern addition to the film noir genre. Do yourself a favor and buy a fresh pack of cards before you watch it--you'll want them desperately afterwards. Along with a fresh haircut and manicure.
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