WTF is a croupier anyway?
Sep. 5th, 2007 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stinglikeabeeCroupier = a casino dealer
I think it's safe to say that Croupier was Clive Owen's big break. Not quite into the atmospheric heights today, but that film definitely got him noticed. It's stylish, clever, and has the feel of a classic noir story. It might not be everyone's cuppa, this movie about a struggling writer who returns to work in the dodgy world of gaming casinos. Owen's performance as Jack Manfred (with bleached hair as the writer, dark hair as the croupier), is engaging and more importantly, open. For instance, when Jack's girlfriend gives him a shoulder massage after a night at the casino and runs her hand through his hair, almost carelessly mentioning she liked his hair better blond - Jack becomes tetchy and snaps that it's not like he's changed. But those few seconds make it rather obvious to the audience of his discomfort and the brittleness of the lie. Try re-enacting that scene. It ain't easy getting it right; rehearse it too much and it'll seem like something in a soap opera.
(Incidentally, I dyed my bleached hair black right before watching the film - being rather superstitious at times, I wondered if this was a sign... I'm gonna be a croupier!)
The best thing about Croupier is the valuable lessons for writers. That's right, it's a PSA as well. After the sounds of the roulette, we meet a literary agent, who blathers on about what sells in the market. Already we have our first lesson.
I think it's safe to say that Croupier was Clive Owen's big break. Not quite into the atmospheric heights today, but that film definitely got him noticed. It's stylish, clever, and has the feel of a classic noir story. It might not be everyone's cuppa, this movie about a struggling writer who returns to work in the dodgy world of gaming casinos. Owen's performance as Jack Manfred (with bleached hair as the writer, dark hair as the croupier), is engaging and more importantly, open. For instance, when Jack's girlfriend gives him a shoulder massage after a night at the casino and runs her hand through his hair, almost carelessly mentioning she liked his hair better blond - Jack becomes tetchy and snaps that it's not like he's changed. But those few seconds make it rather obvious to the audience of his discomfort and the brittleness of the lie. Try re-enacting that scene. It ain't easy getting it right; rehearse it too much and it'll seem like something in a soap opera.
(Incidentally, I dyed my bleached hair black right before watching the film - being rather superstitious at times, I wondered if this was a sign... I'm gonna be a croupier!)
The best thing about Croupier is the valuable lessons for writers. That's right, it's a PSA as well. After the sounds of the roulette, we meet a literary agent, who blathers on about what sells in the market. Already we have our first lesson.
The best thing about Croupier is the valuable lessons for writers. That's right, it's a PSA as well. After the sounds of the roulette, we meet a literary agent, who blathers on about what sells in the market. Already we have our first lesson.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #1:
Get a good agent. Someone who will get the work you want to do, not opportunities for ghostwriting yet another awful book by a footballer.
Poor Jack agrees on writing a book on football (In the Balls? On The Ball? Balls? are some of the titles he comes up with). This moment reminds me of Ed Reardon, who spent his entire career after the first novel writing the most banal works - including ghostwriting a book about celebrity pets. It does seem like if you want to be a writer, you have to put up with writing shit to pay the bills.
Off topic, Jack uses a Wapro (word processing typewriter with built-in printers). Damn, I haven't seen those in forever. I know the film was made in 1998, but weren't laptops around then? I could really do with a Wapro, the lack of internet connection would be perfect and keep me working.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #2:
Write about what you know.
Jack's dad somehow snags an interview at a casino for his son. Although reluctant (he whines, 'It's not what I want to do Dad'), he goes in and aces the interview. It's then that he experiences the pull the working environment has on him. It's a rush, Jack says, watching people lose. And soon after he meets the co-workers, the seeds for a novel plant in his mind. Working at the casino proves to be extremely fruitful as he even writes at the breakfast table after a party. The novel itself is a roman a clef, but point is if you're enthusiastic enough about a topic, writing about it becomes much easier.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #3:
Watch people
Kinda easy, wouldn't you say? Jack is very good with reading people. So much so, that in one scene he is able to determine how many cards each poker player will discard (and thus pull off a very cool trick). I've never had the knack to observe people without them being annoyed and moving away, but the skill is fantastic. It's what creates interesting and well-rounded characters, like the perspiring and anxious man who is down to his last chip praying for a win only to lose it all. Jack gives the man back the chip, but later sees him hovering another table about to place another last-ditch bet. People don't change.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #4:
Know when to quit
Jack Manfred finishes the novel and realises that he's a one novel man. That's quitting while you're ahead. I like that he knows himself well enough at this point to even admit the fact. No one wants to be known as a one-hit wonder, or that you've only the talent for one good book and possibly many other mediocre works. Better to walk away than to possibly suffer later.
And finally, Croupier's Lessons for Writers #5:
Screw the lousy agent over by sending the manuscript through a lawyer and publishing under 'Anonymous'
Brilliant.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #1:
Get a good agent. Someone who will get the work you want to do, not opportunities for ghostwriting yet another awful book by a footballer.
Poor Jack agrees on writing a book on football (In the Balls? On The Ball? Balls? are some of the titles he comes up with). This moment reminds me of Ed Reardon, who spent his entire career after the first novel writing the most banal works - including ghostwriting a book about celebrity pets. It does seem like if you want to be a writer, you have to put up with writing shit to pay the bills.
Off topic, Jack uses a Wapro (word processing typewriter with built-in printers). Damn, I haven't seen those in forever. I know the film was made in 1998, but weren't laptops around then? I could really do with a Wapro, the lack of internet connection would be perfect and keep me working.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #2:
Write about what you know.
Jack's dad somehow snags an interview at a casino for his son. Although reluctant (he whines, 'It's not what I want to do Dad'), he goes in and aces the interview. It's then that he experiences the pull the working environment has on him. It's a rush, Jack says, watching people lose. And soon after he meets the co-workers, the seeds for a novel plant in his mind. Working at the casino proves to be extremely fruitful as he even writes at the breakfast table after a party. The novel itself is a roman a clef, but point is if you're enthusiastic enough about a topic, writing about it becomes much easier.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #3:
Watch people
Kinda easy, wouldn't you say? Jack is very good with reading people. So much so, that in one scene he is able to determine how many cards each poker player will discard (and thus pull off a very cool trick). I've never had the knack to observe people without them being annoyed and moving away, but the skill is fantastic. It's what creates interesting and well-rounded characters, like the perspiring and anxious man who is down to his last chip praying for a win only to lose it all. Jack gives the man back the chip, but later sees him hovering another table about to place another last-ditch bet. People don't change.
Croupier's Lessons for Writers #4:
Know when to quit
Jack Manfred finishes the novel and realises that he's a one novel man. That's quitting while you're ahead. I like that he knows himself well enough at this point to even admit the fact. No one wants to be known as a one-hit wonder, or that you've only the talent for one good book and possibly many other mediocre works. Better to walk away than to possibly suffer later.
And finally, Croupier's Lessons for Writers #5:
Screw the lousy agent over by sending the manuscript through a lawyer and publishing under 'Anonymous'
Brilliant.
