Croupier

Croupier

Year: 1998

Runtime: 94 mins

Language: English

Director: Mike Hodges

ThrillerDramaCrime drugs and gangstersEngaging intense crime and casino dramaHeists and thrilling action

Jack Manfred, an aspiring novelist struggling to pay the bills, takes a job as a casino croupier. Though he tries to stay detached, observing the endless cycles of chance, he becomes drawn into the high‑stakes world, jeopardizing his relationships and the novel he is trying to finish.

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Timeline & Setting – Croupier (1998)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Croupier (1998). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

late 1990s

The events unfold in a contemporary late-1990s setting, with the casino world feeling modern and fast-paced. The period's style and routines underscore how easily money and influence can corrupt ordinary lives. Christmas Eve provides a focal deadline, heightening risk and emotional stakes.

Location

local casino, Jack's basement flat

The story centers on a glitzy local casino where Jack works as a croupier, a place of high stakes and sharp tension. Off-hours, his basement flat serves as a claustrophobic retreat from the casino's bright lights and the pressures of his life. The casino environment frames the moral compromises Jack makes as he slips deeper into deception and crime.

🎰 Casino 🏙️ Urban

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:04

Main Characters – Croupier (1998)

Meet the key characters of Croupier (1998), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Jack Manfred (Clive Owen)

An aspiring writer who takes a croupier job to pay the bills, Jack is pulled into the casino world and its corrupt possibilities. His affairs with Bella and a tacit complicity in a planned robbery reveal a willingness to trade integrity for success. Despite a later literary breakthrough, he remains trapped in a life defined by the casino's shadowy rhythms.

🎭 Protagonist 🖋️ Writer

Bella (Kate Hardie)

A fellow croupier who becomes involved with Jack, Bella's relationship destabilizes under casino policy and personal ambition. She confronts Jack about betrayals and firing, illustrating how romantic entanglements intersect with work politics in this world. Her presence complicates Jack's moral choices and loyalties.

🎭 Lover ⚖️ Rule-breaker

Marion Nell (Gina McKee)

Jack's girlfriend whose patience frays as his casino life deepens and his ambitions clash with reality. She reads his manuscript and tries to undermine the criminal plan, ultimately paying a tragic price for the danger around him. Her death becomes a turning point that underscores the film's cost of moral compromise.

🎭 Partner 🛡️ Moral anchor

Jani De Villiers (Alex Kingston)

A glamorous but calculating gambler who befriends Jack and lures him into the inside-man scheme. She hints at danger and profit, using bruises and manipulation to influence Jack while concealing her own deeper motives. Her actions propel the plot toward its criminal culmination and its outcomes.

🎭 Manipulator 💵 Opportunist

Matt (Paul Reynolds)

A croupier who cheats the casino and drinks with Jack, normalizing shady behavior and blurring ethical boundaries. He serves as a conduit to the criminal network and embodies the corrupting influence of the casino milieu. His presence helps push Jack toward the edge of legality.

🎭 Ally 🃏 Insider

David Reynolds (Alexander Morton)

Jack's father, a small-time hustler who engineers the croupier job and profits from the plan. He embodies a calculating, manipulative influence that frames the crime as a family venture rather than a purely personal choice. His involvement anchors the film's theme of family complicity in crime.

👨‍👦 Parental influence 💼 Hustler

Jack Snr. (Nicholas Ball)

An elder figure in Jack's circle whose presence hints at a broader family network of hustling. He represents a legacy of risk-taking and manipulation that informs Jack's decisions. His role underscores the story's emphasis on inherited patterns rather than isolated acts.

👴 Mentor 🕳️ Network

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:04

Major Themes – Croupier (1998)

Explore the central themes of Croupier (1998), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🎯 Ambition

Jack's writer's dream drives him to take a croupier job, trading idealism for financial security. The casino's lure tempts him to cross ethical lines, blurring the line between art and commerce. His ambitions grow more dangerous as he becomes entangled in a planned robbery and a life he didn't intend to lead.

🃏 Deception

From fake bruises to clandestine plans, deception threads through Jack's interactions. Jani manipulates him into becoming the inside man, while Bella's accusations and Marion's attempts to protect him intensify the web of lies. The story shows how easily trust dissolves when money and thrill override honesty.

🚓 Crime

The plot hinges on a casino robbery that tests loyalty, risk, and consequences. Jack's agreement to the heist brings him into a criminal orbit far from his literary ambitions. The plan's failure and the subsequent fallout reveal the cost of crossing lines, including the personal tragedy that follows.

👨‍👦 Family

Jack is shaped by his father, a hustler who engineers the croupier job and profits from the scheme. The paternal influence drives Jack toward danger, masking its moral implications with a veneer of affection. The revelation of family complicity in the crime leaves Jack to face the consequences alone, even as life continues.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:04

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Croupier Summary

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