VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
room102
This the probably the fourth time I'm watching this movie.The movie is about gambling addiction and like "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead", Hoffman plays a "straight" guy that has an addiction that he hides from the world. And yes, after his death, his roles in both movies have more meaning.This is a great movie. Yet another example of skillfully making a small and low-key movie without being boring.One of the most difficult things about this movie is that it has extensive scenes of a man sitting in front of a gambling table. It could have been boring in the hands of any other filmmaker, but this is done skillfully here. The combination of great score, acting, editing and cinematography makes it a delight and the movie doesn't bore you even for one minute. This is a great accomplishment and everyone in the crew and cast (Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Hurt) should be credited for that.Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent, but you already know that. I said it once and I'll say it again: This actor can take any simple role/character and make it the most interesting in the world. What a talent. What a loss.John Hurt is also great.7/10 Excellent
evening1
Strong portrait of a man for whom nothing matters but placing his next bet.Philip Seymour Hoffman isn't handsome but this film depicts him at his homeliest behind a pair of thick brown glasses and wearing dumpy suits. He lives in his head and goes through the motions of life while lusting after his next big stake. Nothing else stimulates Mahowney -- be it tantalizing restaurant delicacies, all the booze he could guzzle, or the free sex offered by his favorite Atlantic City casino. I have to admit that there was a lot in this movie I did not understand -- drab officials at the bank, tough guys in the casino's back room, John Hurt's dour maunderings. Though a lot of this went over my head and I found stretches of the film rather dull, the portrait of addiction is compelling.Maury Chaykin as a bookie is always interesting to watch. (I was sorry to read on Wikipedia that he died in 2010.) An obviously bewigged Minnie Driver does OK in the role of Mahowney's neglected girlfriend, alternatingly fed up with and nurturing of the creep. Her laying herself out as a doormat was almost as pathetic as Mahowney's inevitable crash-and-burn.The epilogue notes' happy ending is somewhat mystifying. We are assured that Mahowney never placed another bet following his arrest, but are not shown or told how this could be possible. The man was severely disturbed and life doesn't usually work out that magically.
ackstasis
As many of my friends would probably attest, I despise casinos. On our first excursion to a casino, I spent most of the night badgering one friend not to throw away his money, which made me look foolish when he won $240 on the pokies. I don't like how they play on people's weaknesses, feigning class and elegance while groping around in your pockets, perfectly willing to steal the last remaining dollar of an unemployed father-of-four with a gambling addiction. 'Owning Mahowny (2003)' is the true story of one man who fell victim to the gambling monster (colloquially known as "Gamblor"), and whose occupation as a bank manager gave him access an almost unlimited supply of other people's money.Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfect in the leading role, as Dan Mahowny, an unglamorous and ordinary personality who inexplicably gets in way over his head. Unlike most gambling films, there's nothing exciting about the casino sequences here; the viewer rarely, if ever, sees the upturned face of a playing card of a die. Thus, we don't share in the lead character's obsession, instead watching passively as he squanders away his money and his life. There's something vacuous and empty about 'Owning Mahowny,' perhaps the directors' way of communicating what Mahowny feels like when that final chip has been gambled, and there's nothing left to do but go home.Maurice Chauvet's screenplay might have made a good film noir thriller: Mahowny's crimes are at first reasonably insignificant, $10300 "borrowed" from the bank to pay off an extant gambling debt, but quickly, inexplicably escalate into the millions. That he is eventually captured and convicted is, too, never in any doubt, thanks to an opening intertitle that explains the story's origins, and regular cutaways to a Toronto detective hot on Mahowny's trail. However, since the audience never feels a vested interest in the protagonist's fate, the source of his financing never seems as uncomfortable as it should. Subject-wise, I was reminded of a Season 1 episode of "The Twilight Zone" called "The Fever," which similarly dealt with gambling addiction.
blanche-2
In "Owning Mahowny," Philip Seymour Hoffman proved before his Oscar win to be one of the great actors of his generation, playing a compulsive gambler who embezzles millions from his employer, a bank. Dracula is in charge of the blood bank.Mahowny is a fascinating character. He's a cheap slob who drives an old car. Though he loves his girlfriend (Minnie Driver), he hasn't confided in her. In fact, he lies to her, as he lies to everyone. His god is gambling -- not money, just gambling. As Frank Perlin (Maury Chaykin), one of the guys who takes his action attests, "He just wants to have the money to lose." We watch Mahowny get in deeper and deeper, creating false loans and stealing from his clients. He becomes a VIP at an Atlantic City casino where he is given the best of everything and offered even more, but he's not going to do anything that takes away from his time at the tables. Unbeknownst to him, the Feds are interested in some of his associates and become curious about this Mahowny guy, thinking he may be in on a drug racket.This movie will keep you hooked throughout. Hoffman is brilliant and even sports a Canadian accent (the film was made there and the real Mahowny is Canadian). Hoffman comes from my home town, and as we are close to Canada, he is familiar with the accent.The rest of the acting is uniformly good, with the standout being the remarkable John Hurt as the casino owner who wants Mahowny to keep throwing money at the casino and will do anything to keep him there. The insight into the gambling world is amazing, and may keep you away from the tables the next time you're in Vegas or Atlantic City.
