Croupier

Released by the Shooting Gallery Film Series, Mike Hodges’ 1997 gambling thriller stars Clive Owen — with a roguish affect that’s part James Bond, part hard-boiled dick — as an aspiring writer who takes a job as a casino dealer, initially to appease his girlfriend (Gina McKee) and father, but eventually, to gather story ideas. The mood is taut, the lighting noirish, the camera angles skewed, and the action is all about devising ways to beat the odds, with some seeming accidents along the way. Owen refuses to gamble on cards or roulette, taking his job and his own moral code very seriously, but he’s briefly seduced by the plight of the beautiful Alex Kingston (best known in the States as ER’s Dr. Corday): She owes some mean people a lot of money, etc. and so he plays his own game, and learns some harsh lessons, as is the usual way in such films. It’s good-looking and maintains a certain pace, but Croupier is a story you’ve seen before, and, wouldn’t you know, there’s a dead woman involved.

—Cindy Fuchs