Tonight’s movie: Croupier

The Brits know how to make movies about crime and addiction. Not surprising that I liked Croupier, as its directed by Mike Hodges, who also did the original Get Carter (although Hodges did hit a rut in the ’80s). This one was on Starz! so catch it if you can.

This film is a tense little thriller about a would-be writer who can’t break into the paying ranks. Having been raised by a gambler/con man father he knows all about casinos and takes a job in one in London. The gorgeous Alex Kingston (ER’s Dr. Elizabeth Corday) plays into his life, although he’s living with the quite attractive Gina McKee, which gives us the requisite criminal element, although the film is as much about addiction. Many, many gamblers (such as Mr Tchai, a wealthy Chinese man who plays thousands of punds night after night) but also Clive Owen’s Jack Manfred as the title character, who drinks to hallucination and smokes constantly as he finally writes a bestseller based on his life at the casino.