Croupier

Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics

Has your day today been worth narating? If it were retold in the pages of a novel, would anyone read it? Are you worthy of narration? Most of us would say that we weren’t, but that’s not the case for Jack Manfred, the title character of Croupier, Mike Hodges’ 1998 film about authorship and narcissism. Jack thinks that one must be a gambler or a croupier: one can either try to bend the universe to do what he wants it to do–or know that that’s impossible and revel in watching the losers. But is there a middle way?

In the episode, Dan mentions Steven and Frederick Barthelme’s Double Down: a terrific memoir of gambling and loss. It’s a true page-turner.

Follow us on X and Letterboxd–and let us know what you’d like us to watch! Incredible bumper music by John Deley. Also check out Dan’s new Substack site, Pages and Frames, for more film-related material.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices