Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Netflix Diaries: Croupier


So we've had two-at-a-time Netflix for a year and a half now, and I kept meaning to watch things that I've been meaning to watch and start this feature, but I've had no time. The life of a graduating senior is a hectic one. But the bright red Netflix packets just sit there and stare at you, a reminder that you're paying $15 a month for these DVDs to not be watched for two weeks.

So two days ago we finally watched Croupier, which I saw a few years ago but nearly slept through- my memory of it was hazy, and I only recalled a vague conviction that Clive Owen is pretty damn cool.

And he is. But this neo-noir story about Clive Owen's hard-luck writer who takes a job as a casino dealer (which are called "croupiers" in Europe because they're so pretentious over there) doesn't help one stay awake. Which isn't to say its boring, it's just sparse, dark, and a little slow moving. Director Mike Hodges re-teamed with Clive Owen five years later for the ironically titled I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, which is so slow that my girlfriend and I couldn't finish it, but he is best known as the director of Get Carter.

Anyway, the main draws of Croupier are a tight script, well-rounded cast, and straightforward, BBC style production values, and its definitely a unique film about a subculture so noir-friendly I'm surprised there aren't more films about croupiers.

And while we're here: I have no problem with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. Great choice, great film. But having seen Croupier well before Layer Cake, I was a strident Clive-Owen-for-James-Bond campaigner long before the choice was made- he spends enough squinting in a badass way while wearing a suit in this movie to convince anyone.

Ah, well. At least he got to badass it up in Sin City and Shoot 'Em Up. But I haven't seen him in a suit since.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Technically, he's in a suit in "Children of Men," "Derailed," "The Bourne Identity," and "Gosford Park." (I had to look up the "Gosford Park" thing because I completely forget that he is in there)

Also, look at his IMDB resume... Count how many times he plays a character named "Driver" or "The Driver." Granted, I'm sure that this was probably part of a series, but it is still a bit weird.

Duncan Carson said...

Okay, I'll take that back. But I don't remember him in a suit in "Children of Men." I'll have to watch that again.

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