Script and direction play safe throughout.

Coolly hypnotic, the lean British sleeper Croupier is a reminder that movies don't have to wave their arms and scream to hold our attention.

But it's Clive Owen, who was so fine as the homosexual imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp in "Bent," who steals the show. If you need an actor who emotes thunderstorms while his flesh is as still as a spring day, look no further.

My favorite thing about Croupier is the sound of the different games: the chips stacked on the tables, the rattling of the marble ball spinning in the roulette wheel; the clip of the cards dealt in front of players.