Croupier

Jack Manfred is a writer struggling to get his career started, and when money runs short he takes a job as a croupier in a London casino. He keeps his distance from the players, treating the tables as material for his stalled novel, and the work begins to give him the story he has been searching for. At the same time it pulls him away from his partner, Marion, who disapproves of what he is doing with his talent. His detachment ends when he meets Jani, a gambler who draws him into a scheme connected to the casino, and Jack finds himself risking far more than he intended.

The film was directed by Mike Hodges, whose earlier work includes Get Carter, Flash Gordon and Black Rainbow, with a screenplay by Paul Mayersberg. Clive Owen plays Jack, and the cast also features Alex Kingston as Jani, Gina McKee as Marion, Kate Hardie as Bella and Nicholas Ball as Jack's father. It was produced by Jonathan Cavendish and Christine Ruppert, and runs 94 minutes.

Released in 1998, Croupier drew a critics' rating of 7.7 out of 10 from 58 reviews, higher than its audience scores of 7 out of 10 on IMDb and 6.7 out of 10 on TMDB.