Croupier (1998)

Film4, 11.20pm ★★★

Clive Owen stars as Jack Manfred in Mike Hodge’s neo-noir about a cocky aspiring writer who gets a job as a croupier to cover his debts. But when Manfred starts to break all the rules of the casino world, his life begins to unravel. Owen’s performance is excellent; he may even have won an Oscar – if the film hadn’t been disqualified from the awards for being shown on Dutch television, that is.