Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a young bank executive, is moving up in the world.  He has a kind girlfriend (Minnie Driver) who wants to be married and was recently promoted.  He manages large accounts and is admired by his co-workers.  Underneath the surface, though, he has a problem with gambling.  His bookie shows up at work demanding money and Mahowny begins to manipulate accounts in his favor in order to pay.  Soon, he is travelling to Atlantic City to gamble every weekend and starts losing large amounts of money.  He ends up distant from his girlfriend and eventually loses more than $10 million of the bank’s money with his schemes collapsing around him.

Richard Kwietniowski’s film is a serious attempt to portray gambling addiction and it largely works well.  The isolation of repetitive gambling is clear from the space between Mahowny and the other characters that is omnipresent during the film.  The thrill of gambling is also captured well and allows the viewer to understand the character’s motivation in an emotional way.  One major weak point is John Hurt as the casino manager, a role meant to capture menace that the actor never reveals.  Otherwise, though, it is a fine film about a personal crisis that deserves a wider audience.  ☆ ☆ ☆.

MJM  05-06-2012