Croupier (1998)

Director:

Mike Hodges

Writer:

Paul Mayersberg (written by)

Release Date:

21 April 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Life's a Gamble

Plot:

An aspiring writer is hired as a croupier at a casino, where he realizes that his life as a croupier would make a great novel.

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Croupier | Gambler | Novel | Writer

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Clive Owen	...	Jack Manfred
Nick Reding	...	Giles Cremorne
Nicholas Ball	...	Jack Snr.
Alexander Morton	...	David Reynolds
Barnaby Kay	...	Car Dealer
Gina McKee	...	Marion Nell
John Radcliffe	...	Barber
Sheila Whitfield	...	Manicurist
David Hamilton	...	Casino Supervisor
Carol Davis	...	Table Supervisor
Eddie Osei	...	West Indian Punter
Doremy Vernon	...	Woman I
Claudine Carter	...	Woman II
Ursula Alberts	...	Madame Claude
Neville Phillips	...	White Haired Man
Paul Reynolds	...	Matt
Kate Hardie	...	Bella
Ozzie Yue	...	Mr. Tchai
Joanna E. Drummond	...	Agnes
Manfred Heiden	...	Mr. Tchai's Bodyguard
Alex Kingston	...	Jani de Villiers
Ciro de Chiara	...	Cheat
Rhona Mitra	...	Girl with Joint
John Baker	...	Couple in Toilet
Vida Garman	...	Couple in Toilet
George Khan	...	Coughing Man
Christine Niemöller	...	Pat
Claudia Barth	...	Waitress
Tom Mannion	...	Ross
Arnold Zarom	...	Habib the Terrorist
James Clyde	...	Gordon
Emma Lewis	...	Fiona
Kate Fenwick	...	Chloe
Rosemarie Dunham	...	Jewish Woman
Magnus Hastings	...	Gigolo
John Surman	...	Loser
Mark Long	...	Gangster I
Michail Golzarandi	...	Gangster II
Karlheinz Ciba	...	Accusing Punter (as Karl-Heinz Ciba)
Sven Morche	...	Policeman
Loretta Parnell	...	Lucy
Simon Fisher-Turner	...	Ironic Punter (as Simon Fisher Turner)
Mary Coy	...	Croupier
David Gant	...	Croupier
Norbert Kleine	...	Croupier
Lynsey Pinsent	...	Croupier
Ulrich Vogel	...	Croupier
Elke Wartmann	...	Croupier

Directed by
Mike Hodges

Writing credits
Paul Mayersberg		(written by)

Produced by
Jonathan Cavendish	....	producer
Jake Lloyd	....	line producer
James Mitchell	....	executive producer
Christine Ruppert	....	co-producer
Martin Wiebel	....	associate producer
James Mitchell	....	co-producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Simon Fisher-Turner		(as Simon Fisher Turner)

Cinematography by
Michael Garfath

Film Editing by
Les Healey

Casting by
Leo Davis

Production Design by
Jon Bunker

Art Direction by
Ian Reade-Hill		(as Ian Reade Hill)

Set Decoration by
Gillie Delap

Costume Design by
Caroline Harris

Makeup Department
Horst Allert	....	makeup artist
Ulrike Bruns-Giffel	....	additional makeup artist: Germany (as Ulrike Bruns)
Ana Mujan	....	makeup trainee: Germany
Delia Mündelein	....	makeup artist
Amanda Warburton	....	additional makeup artist: UK
Heike Wolff	....	additional makeup artist: Germany

Production Management
Julie Clark	....	production manager: UK
Bernd Huckenbeck	....	production manager: Germany
Daniel Lloyd	....	post-production supervisor: UK

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ulrike Hamacher	....	second assistant director: Germany
Sascha Koszinowski	....	third assistant director: Germany
Michael Murray	....	first assistant director
Jez Murrell	....	second assistant director: UK
Fares Muscati	....	assistant director trainee: Germany
Richard Walker	....	third assistant director
Richard Walker	....	third assistant director: UK

Art Department
Sylke Abinghoff	....	props trainee (as Sylke Abdinghoff)
Gillie Delap	....	production buyer
Justin Delap	....	dressing props: UK
Ulrike Gojowczyk	....	prop master: Germany
Marcus Haendgen	....	prop buyer: Germany (as Marcus Händgen)
Ron Higgins	....	dressing props: UK
Matt Langley	....	carpenter: UK
Nick Matic	....	stand-by carpenter: Germany (as Nikola Matic)
Fumi Ogasawara	....	stand-by carpenter: Germany
Em Parkinson	....	additional buyer: UK
Rodney Pincott	....	stand-by props: UK
Alexander Scherer	....	art director: Germany
Ron Skinner	....	rigger: UK
Gernot Thöndel	....	prop buyer: Germany
Gernot Thöndel	....	set decorator: Germany
Wolfgang Gosberg	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Susanne Göttgens	....	painter (uncredited)
Gregor Hees	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)
Herbert Hees	....	painter (uncredited)
Andrea Kessler	....	painter (uncredited)
Marc Lorenz	....	carpenter (uncredited)
John Maher	....	construction manager (uncredited)
Mario Matic	....	carpenter (uncredited)
John Rawsthorn	....	chief painter (uncredited)
Britta Sassmannshausen	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Volker Schäfer	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roy Baker	....	foley artist
Don Banks	....	boom operator
Don Banks	....	sound maintenance
Felicity Cottrell	....	foley artist
Mike Dowson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jacques Leroide	....	foley editor
Colin Miller	....	sound editor
Ivan Sharrock	....	sound recordist
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
Paul Swinburne	....	assistant sound editor
Mark Taylor	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Colin Coull	....	color grader (uncredited)

Stunts
Helen Caldwell	....	stunts
Graeme Crowther	....	stunt arranger
Joss Gower	....	stunts
Russell Holdaway	....	stunt double: Jack
Tracy L'Epine	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Amedeo Balestrieri	....	electrician: Germany (as Armadeo Balestrieri)
Ray Brown	....	electrician: UK
Orietta Damiano	....	trainee electrician
Nina Erfle	....	video operator
Kevin Gardner	....	additional electrician: UK (as Kevin Gardiner)
Ray Hall	....	grip: UK
Simone Hartmann	....	clapper loader: Germany
Gordon Hayman	....	camera operator
Rawdon Hayne	....	first assistant camera
Rawdon Hayne	....	focus puller
Udo Heinz	....	electrician
Josef Kalteis	....	electrician: Germany
Maike Maier	....	assistant grip: Germany
Simon Mein	....	still photographer
Jens Meiners	....	best boy
Spencer Murray	....	clapper loader: UK
Ray Potter	....	gaffer
Karim Rahmani	....	crane grip assistant
Jürgen Steil	....	grip: Germany
Kerstin Stelter	....	still photographer
Markus Wiebecke	....	electrician
Karim Rahmani	....	assistant: crane grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Louis Elman	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Emily Bradbury	....	assistant costume designer: UK
Anja Bölk	....	wardrobe (as Anja Bölck)
Ursula Münstermann	....	wardrobe: Germany
Nick Heather	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
David Barrett	....	first assistant editor
Jochen Felthaus	....	editor trainee
Paul Swinburne	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Gilad Atzmon	....	musician: saxophone and clarinet (as Gilad Atzman)
Simon Fisher-Turner	....	musician: guitar and keyboards (as Simon Fisher Turner)
Richard Preston	....	music mixer
Richard Preston	....	music producer
Peter Rackham	....	musician: piano (as Pete Rackham)

Transportation Department
Alex Biek	....	props driver: UK
Mark Brown	....	unit driver: UK
Toni Jakuli	....	props driver: Germany
Martin Kircher	....	production driver
Paul Lagall	....	driver: grip car, UK
Peter Moss	....	unit driver: UK
Thomas Nowicki	....	props driver: Germany
Karsten Peter	....	production driver: Germany
Axel Rating	....	production driver: Germany
Eddie Saunders	....	construction driver: UK

Other crew
Catherine Allinson	....	continuity
Peta Browne	....	publicist
Sarah Critchley	....	legal services
Emma Davie	....	unit publicist
Carol Davis	....	croupier trainer
Gabriele Goiczyk	....	unit location manager: Germany
Marie Therese Hamacher	....	caterer (as Marie-Therese Hamacher)
David Hamilton	....	casino advisor
Claudia Hodel	....	production coordinator: Germany
Fran Hunter	....	stand-in
Petra Junk	....	production accountant: Germany
Rita Junk	....	cashier: Germany
Jonathan Kelly	....	production lawyer
Claire Keogh	....	assistant accountant: UK
Hermann Koenen	....	caterer
Ingrid Litman	....	production coordinator: UK
Denise Lyons	....	production secretary: Germany
Alison MacKinnon	....	dialect coach
Frank Meter	....	locations: Germany
Jörg Peter	....	production office trainee: Germany
Nicky Ryde	....	script associate
Stefan Rüll	....	legal advisor: Germany (as Dr. Stefan Rüll)
Shirley Schumacher	....	crowd marshall
Shirley Schumacher	....	floor runner
Mark Shorrock	....	location manager: UK
Jim Shortall	....	cashier: UK
Bruno Shovelton	....	stand-in
Daniel Steiner	....	production runner: UK
Amanda Street	....	international sales: FilmFour
Annette Waldron	....	accountant: UK
Wink	....	location assistant: UK
Pauline Hume	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Arte
• Channel Four Films
• La Sept-Arte
• Little Bird
• Tatfilm
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Distributors

• Americine (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Action Gitanes (France)
• Alliance Atlantis Communications (2000) (Canada)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (Canada) (DVD)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (Canada) (VHS)
• British Film Institute (BFI)
• Channel Four Films (2001) (UK) (re-release)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2009) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2002) (Finland) (VHS)
• Shooting Gallery (2000) (USA)
• SubTV (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Zephir Film (Germany)

Other Companies

• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen  funding
• General Screen Enterprises  titles
• Onkel Tuca FilmDecor  set construction
• Rooster Studios  music recorded at
• Shepperton Sound  sound mixed at
• Sylvia Wheeler Film Services  negative cutting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

94 min | Poland:91 min

Country:

France | UK | Germany | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Finland:K-11 | Argentina:13 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Ireland:15 | Poland:15 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Infostudios, Monheim, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

Paul Mayersberg was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Jack is taken off the roulette table approx 20 minutes in, the roulette wheel is not spinning. Roulette wheels are only stopped when the table is closed, and as there are players at the table the wheel should be moving.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jack:[self reflection] Now he had become the still center of that spinning wheel of misfortune. The world turned 'round him leaving him miraculously untouched. The croupier had reached his goal. He no longer heard the sound of the ball.

Croupier

"Croupier" is a British neo-noir. It has a detached character (or even better, two characters) who progressively get involved in a shadowy world from an apparently safe beginning, it has voice-overs, lots of artistic and original swearing, a depressing atmosphere and if you don't feel like lighting a cigarette with a Zippo after the movie is over, you're dead. Clive Owen gives an amazing performance as the croupier of the title, who is very conscious of his split personalities: Jack, a gambler, the writer who works in the casino to pay the bills, and Jake, a croupier, a man who enjoys watching his customers losing all his money and who makes sure he's always dealing the cards. In the end, Jack loses and Jake wins. The message is delivered in the least subtle way possible, Hell, the voice-over is practically an intellectual analysis on the movie's meaning, but it works because Jack/Jake is an amazingly engaging character and because the movie is so well directed. The crime plot, although not surprising in the least, develops itself smoothly and contains lots of unexpected sources of humor. "Croupier" is a very stylish and criminally underrated neo-noir that beats the living crap out of most of recent Hollywood releases centering about a big robbery or con. It might be heavy-handed, but it's conscious of where its strenghts lie, and Wilson is great. Why it's so criminally underrated... I don't have the faintest about.