Croupier

A man finds his personal and professional loyalties divides by his new career at a casino in this crime drama. Jack Manfred ( Clive Owen ) is a cocky, supremely confident man who wants to be a writer. Jack's long struggle to finish his first novel has landed him deep in debt, and his father ( Nicholas Ball ) volunteers to get him a job in a casino in London. While Jack doesn't gamble himself, he has the dexterity (and enough contempt for the game) to be a good dealer. He's soon making a tidy living as a dealer, despite the objections of his girlfriend, Marion ( Gina McKee ), who thinks his job is taking him away from his true calling as a writer. Against the orders of his boss, Jack has a fling with Bella ( Kate Hardie ), another dealer at the casino, and allows himself to be seduced by one of his customers, Jani ( Alex Kingston ). However, it turns out Jani wants more than sex from Jack; she and her compatriots have a plan to rob the casino and they want Jack to be their man on the inside. Croupier was directed by Mike Hodges , whose first film was the classic British thriller Get Carter . — Mark Deming