Croupier

Everything you ever wanted to know about the casino business and the people involved in it. And how it can bend and in some ways break an idealistic person like Jack Manfred who just wants to be a writer. This film has a cool feel to it with Clive Owen's portraying Jack Manfred as highly intelligent, not easily rattled, observant, but at the same time detached and emotionally cold man. Living with a girlfriend that admires him and supports him in his pursuit of becoming a writer Jack gets a job at a casino through his dad, an even more emotionally detached and cold man than himself. Having had prior experience working as a croupier in South Africa Jack quickly establishes himself as a valued member of the team. Originally looking at the job as something temporary to help support himself and appease his dad Jack finds himself having to make many ethical choices while being sucked in deeper and deeper into the shadowy world of casinos. The story is very believable and ties in nicely at the end while springing a few surprises along the way. It is one of those films that will leave you thinking about it for a little bit after putting the puzzle of events together in your head after finding out who, where, what and why. I have really enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.

Oceans 13

Ocean's 13: One Number Too Many? Ocean's Thirteen is the third installment in the blockbuster, star studded heist franchise directed by Steve Soderbergh. Starring most all of the casts from the first two films this one centers around a revenge plot against a greedy casino owner who hurts one of Ocean's crew.Acting is up to par for the series, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadel, Al Pacino, Elliot Gould, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, and Ellen Barkin all putting in their usual acting efforts. Missing this time was Julia Roberts, but with such a large cast of notable names who cares if she stayed home to make babies.The film was down right simple fun ruined by complex and illogical events that stretched the believability factor just too far to compare this one on the same grounds as the previous films. Actually, I found Ocean's 11 to be an overrated showcase of movie stars and wardrobe, yet Ocean's 12 to be the same fun as this installment. Ocean's 13 is a rental that should not disappoint, but I paid theatre price for it and really I will forget the caper within a few days.

Here is one of the reasons I could not 100% enjoy Ocean's 13. They take the quirky heist situation and use methods that were too ridiculous for me to fathom them trying. For example they rent a giant tunneling machine, the same one that made the English channel or something like that. So here they are tunneling under Las Vegas to strike the bottom of a hotel and simulate an Earthquake. They do not show how they got this large tunneling machine underground without anyone noticing, they just cut right to it already being in place. Then on top of that, how did they drive such a large thing under the city of Las Vegas to the center without tearing out all of the pipes and things associated with all of the other businesses? I didn't see them hire any genius diggers or mad scientists for that matter.I had fun watching the movie, but looking back can not justify saying it is a great film by any means. If you just allow yourself to forget any logical reality and let the characters on the screen entertain you then it works, especially if you are a fan of the previous two films. However, if you are someone who cannot suspend reality too long or far when the movie is supposedly set in the "real" world, then you may have more gripes than praise for Ocean's 13.

Alpha Dog

I went into this film very weary about seeing Justin Timberlake in a film. After th film I was very impressed and would definitely see it again and again. The film basically looks at the character Jonny Truelove who is a drug dealer in California. Everything begins to unfold when a deal goes wrong and Jonny is not getting paid. With all his wits and brains working for him Jonny decides to kidnap the kid brother of the guy who owes him money. After the kidnapping occurs Truelove realizes that everything is unraveling and he is obviously losing his control. He puts the kid under the supervision of his partner/best friend Frankie(played by Justin Timberlake). Timberlake takes the kid under his wings and treats him just like he was one of the boys. The kid coming from a disgruntled home situation doesn't want to go home and really doesn't mind the fact that he has been kidnapped. He is having the time of his life with all the partyin, drugs alcohol and beautiful women he could ever want the kid is living it up. The story eventually comes to an end when Truelove decides that the kid must die and he needs his boys to do it. Everyone in Truelove's crew is accused of some form of kidnap or murder and are sentenced to jail. Truelove manages to escape and becomes the youngest man on the FBI's most wanted list he is eventually caught and is awaiting the death penalty in jail. All in all I recommend this film to everyone it is very well done and quite realistic.