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Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Minnie Driver,
more...
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Richard Kwietniowski,
Richard Kwietniowski
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: Columbia TriStar
: Drama, Foreign, British Drama, Crime, UK
: 105 min.
: English
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A seemingly ordinary bank employee develops an obsession that could destroy his life and that of those around him in this drama. Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a quiet, unassuming employee of a bank in Toronto; he lives modestly, drives a used car, and is dating one of the bank's tellers, a sweet but mousy girl named Belinda (Minnie Driver). What no one knows is that Dan has a secret life -- Dan is a compulsive gambler, and after running up massive debts with his bookie Frank Perlin (Maury Chaykin), he begins making regular visits to Atlantic City in the United States, where he often bets (and loses) far beyond his means. Dan's expertise at the bank is rewarded with a promotion to assistant manager; his new responsibilities include approving loans, which gives him the authority to transfer funds in and out of the bank. Needing to cover his debts, Dan starts approving loans to non-existent clients and adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to other accounts, and Victor Fox) (John Hurt), manager of Dan's favorite Atlantic City casino, is more than happy to "help" Dan, comping him to luxury suites and all the attendant amenities and working with him to transfer bank funds into his casino account. As Dan's debts begin to grow into the seven figure range, his dealings become harder to hide, both from the authorities and from Belinda, who has become aware of Dan's addiction to gambling but doesn't know just how far it's grown. Based on a true story, Owning Mahowny was directed by Richard Kwietniowski, who previously worked with John Hurt in the acclaimed Love and Death on Long Island. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| It may be based upon a good book...
by emdoub
March 25, 2009 - 8:11 AM PDT
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2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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This has an interesting-enough story, some remarkable performances, and decent production values, yet still fails, for several reasons.
First - Minnie Driver should never wear another blond wig. It wasn't a bad wig, mind you - but she looked so wrong as a blond that it marred every scene she was in.
Second - have someone who hasn't read the book read the script. So much of what was going on was unexplained that it was difficult to follow the action.
For example, at one point, Mahowny is gambling in a casino, dealing from the shoe. The game could be blackjack, but it's not clear enough to be certain, you never see the other player(s?) at the table, so it's unclear whether it's a casino employee or another patron. The only casino game in which patrons deal that I know of is baccarat - and I don't believe that that is played in U.S. casinos.
At another point, Mahowny is driving along in his old car, and the scene cuts to his car being stopped in the middle of the street, with him trying to restart it. Did he run out of gas? Did the engine just quit, inexplicably? The action at the bank is told in much the same way - there are little snippets, but the viewer never gets enough information to have a clear idea of how our protagonist is doing what he's doing.
It probably makes a much better story if you already know the story - but there's so much missing from the actual action, and from the characters, that it's remarkably difficult to become engaged with either the events or the characters.
I'm giving it 4/10, but only that high because the performances were as good as they were. The script gets 1/10 - I must admit, I've seen worse. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.52)
66 Votes
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