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Owning Mahowny
Columbia/Tri-Star // R // October 14, 2003
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Owning Mahowny, a recent theatrical release from Sony Classics and the second feature helmed by Love and Death on Long Island's Richard Kwietniowski, is based on "The Incredible Obsession of Brian Molony". Gary Ross' book provided a detailed account of an assistant manager of credit at a Toronto branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Between 1980 and 1982, Molony lifted $16 million from corporate pockets to fund his gambling addiction, repaying $6 million or so but with the remainder still breaking the ten million dollar mark. Its film adaptation stars Philip Seymour Hoffman (Almost Famous, Boogie Nights) as Molony, renamed Dan Mahowny for the movie.
As the film opens, Mahowny has just received a promotion. His friends and coworkers are a bit confused that Mahowny hasn't indulged himself, still cludging around in an ancient, barely-functional car and sporting cheap, frumpy suits. Nearly every cent of his disposable income is directed towards gambling. When his bookie (Maury Chaykin) threatens to cut him off, Mahowny reluctantly defrauds the bank into covering his $10,300 debt. The daughter of an astonishingly wealthy client opens up a multi-million dollar credit line, giving Mahowny a nearly unlimited sum of money with which to indulge himself. In his early trips to Atlantic City, he carries a hundred grand or two in tow, attracting the attention of casino manager Victor Foss (John Hurt). Foss attempts to lavish upon him every perk the casino has to offer -- gourmet meals, complimentary suites, drugs, hookers, liquor -- but Mahowny is completely disinterested. He turns away a call girl, noting that he only has eyes for Lady Luck. He's quiet and intense at the tables, ignoring all distractions and earning the nickname "Ice Man" from some of the casino employees. The luck Mahowny has at ripping off the bank, snatching millions upon millions of dollars while avoiding detection, doesn't carry over to his gambling. His bookie wants to cut him off outright, not feeling guilty about taking Mahowny's money so much as the fact that his client's bets are so poorly conceived. Among his innumerable bets is picking all of the away teams in the American league and all of the home teams in the National League. On the rare occasions that Mahowny is up, he refuses to quit while he's ahead; it's mused that Mahowny's only interest in winning is to give him a larger sum of money to lose. Mahowny also successfully alienates most everyone in his life, including his girlfriend (played by Minnie Driver, who seems to have lifted her less-than-glamorous look from Teri Garr in Ghost World). A criminal investigation into Mahowny's bookie eventually steers the police his way, threatening to bring his eight-figure run to an abrupt end.
Most addiction films seem desperate to serve as some sort of cautionary tale. Its characters have to undergo an almost cartoonish downward spiral, culminating in a dramatic, extreme low-point from which they either claw their way out or find themselves hopelessly submerged. Owning Mahowny is much more restrained, placing its focus on a character and his response to his compulsion to gamble rather than on the sickness itself. Mahowny gambles not to win or, as he claims, to right his financial problems. There's no visible rush; Mahowny never seems as if he enjoys what he's doing. He's clearly crushed when he loses, but there's no giddy excitement when he manages to be up hundreds of thousands of dollars -- just the same expressionless gaze on his face. The glitz and glamour of the casinos are as ignored by the movie as they are by its title character. There are no strands of neon, no three-foot tall piles of hundred dollar bills, no showgirls. It's this understated approach, coupled with another in a lengthy series of excellent performances by lead Hoffman, that elevate Owning Mahowny from a good movie to something I'm more likely to enthusiastically recommend.
Video: This DVD marked the first time I caught Owning Mahowny, so I don't have a point of comparison to say how its 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation stacks up to exhibitions from its limited theatrical run. It's not a particularly crisp image, offering limited fine detail. The palette is cold and pale, steering clear of the usual neon hues and bright lights that generally litter casinos in movies. Mild film grain also creeps onto the image intermittently, as does some heavy edge haloing. Much of this could very well be representative of the intended look of the film, which isn't marred by any intrusive wear or speckling. I didn't find the quirks of its appearance on DVD distracting, but home theater demo material it's not.
Audio: The nature of the material doesn't really cry out for aggressive surrounds or wall-rattling bass, though this Dolby Digital 5.1 track (448Kbps) accomplishes what it needs to reasonably well. The rears provide an extensive amount of ambiance, particularly the sounds of bustling casinos, office chatter, and echoed effects in garages. The movie opens with a nice 360 degree pan as a ball spins around a roulette wheel. There isn't as much happening in the lower frequencies, limited to music and scattered effects like thunder and rumbling cars. Dialogue comes through fine, and I didn't stumble upon any issues with intelligibility or anything along those lines. Not a sonic showcase, but pretty much what I went in expecting.
There are no subtitles or alternate soundtracks, though closed captions have been provided.
Supplements: The only extra is a trailer gallery that features Love Liza (2:25), Masked and Anonymous (2:26), Owning Mahowny, and Punch-Drunk Love (2:33). All four trailers are presented in anamorphic widescreen, with Punch-Drunk Love at an aspect ratio of approximately 2:35:1 and the other three closer to 1.85:1. Love Liza features Dolby Digital 2.0 audio (192Kbps), Masked and Anonymous and Owning Mahowny boast Dolby Digital 2.0 surround tracks (also encoded at 192Kbps), and Punch-Drunk Love is accompanied by Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (384Kbps).
Owning Mahowny includes a set of 16x9-enhanced static menus, and an insert listing the movie's twenty-eight chapter stops is provided inside the keepcase.
Conclusion: Strong material and an excellent performance by lead Philip Seymour Hoffman make Owning Mahoney, a movie that's likely to slip past most viewers' collective radar, well-worth viewing. Highly recommended as a rental, recommended as a purchase.
Related Links: The official Owning Mahowny has more background information about the movie, and Apple also has a trailer in Quicktime format on their site.
As the film opens, Mahowny has just received a promotion. His friends and coworkers are a bit confused that Mahowny hasn't indulged himself, still cludging around in an ancient, barely-functional car and sporting cheap, frumpy suits. Nearly every cent of his disposable income is directed towards gambling. When his bookie (Maury Chaykin) threatens to cut him off, Mahowny reluctantly defrauds the bank into covering his $10,300 debt. The daughter of an astonishingly wealthy client opens up a multi-million dollar credit line, giving Mahowny a nearly unlimited sum of money with which to indulge himself. In his early trips to Atlantic City, he carries a hundred grand or two in tow, attracting the attention of casino manager Victor Foss (John Hurt). Foss attempts to lavish upon him every perk the casino has to offer -- gourmet meals, complimentary suites, drugs, hookers, liquor -- but Mahowny is completely disinterested. He turns away a call girl, noting that he only has eyes for Lady Luck. He's quiet and intense at the tables, ignoring all distractions and earning the nickname "Ice Man" from some of the casino employees. The luck Mahowny has at ripping off the bank, snatching millions upon millions of dollars while avoiding detection, doesn't carry over to his gambling. His bookie wants to cut him off outright, not feeling guilty about taking Mahowny's money so much as the fact that his client's bets are so poorly conceived. Among his innumerable bets is picking all of the away teams in the American league and all of the home teams in the National League. On the rare occasions that Mahowny is up, he refuses to quit while he's ahead; it's mused that Mahowny's only interest in winning is to give him a larger sum of money to lose. Mahowny also successfully alienates most everyone in his life, including his girlfriend (played by Minnie Driver, who seems to have lifted her less-than-glamorous look from Teri Garr in Ghost World). A criminal investigation into Mahowny's bookie eventually steers the police his way, threatening to bring his eight-figure run to an abrupt end.
Most addiction films seem desperate to serve as some sort of cautionary tale. Its characters have to undergo an almost cartoonish downward spiral, culminating in a dramatic, extreme low-point from which they either claw their way out or find themselves hopelessly submerged. Owning Mahowny is much more restrained, placing its focus on a character and his response to his compulsion to gamble rather than on the sickness itself. Mahowny gambles not to win or, as he claims, to right his financial problems. There's no visible rush; Mahowny never seems as if he enjoys what he's doing. He's clearly crushed when he loses, but there's no giddy excitement when he manages to be up hundreds of thousands of dollars -- just the same expressionless gaze on his face. The glitz and glamour of the casinos are as ignored by the movie as they are by its title character. There are no strands of neon, no three-foot tall piles of hundred dollar bills, no showgirls. It's this understated approach, coupled with another in a lengthy series of excellent performances by lead Hoffman, that elevate Owning Mahowny from a good movie to something I'm more likely to enthusiastically recommend.
Video: This DVD marked the first time I caught Owning Mahowny, so I don't have a point of comparison to say how its 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation stacks up to exhibitions from its limited theatrical run. It's not a particularly crisp image, offering limited fine detail. The palette is cold and pale, steering clear of the usual neon hues and bright lights that generally litter casinos in movies. Mild film grain also creeps onto the image intermittently, as does some heavy edge haloing. Much of this could very well be representative of the intended look of the film, which isn't marred by any intrusive wear or speckling. I didn't find the quirks of its appearance on DVD distracting, but home theater demo material it's not.
Audio: The nature of the material doesn't really cry out for aggressive surrounds or wall-rattling bass, though this Dolby Digital 5.1 track (448Kbps) accomplishes what it needs to reasonably well. The rears provide an extensive amount of ambiance, particularly the sounds of bustling casinos, office chatter, and echoed effects in garages. The movie opens with a nice 360 degree pan as a ball spins around a roulette wheel. There isn't as much happening in the lower frequencies, limited to music and scattered effects like thunder and rumbling cars. Dialogue comes through fine, and I didn't stumble upon any issues with intelligibility or anything along those lines. Not a sonic showcase, but pretty much what I went in expecting.
There are no subtitles or alternate soundtracks, though closed captions have been provided.
Supplements: The only extra is a trailer gallery that features Love Liza (2:25), Masked and Anonymous (2:26), Owning Mahowny, and Punch-Drunk Love (2:33). All four trailers are presented in anamorphic widescreen, with Punch-Drunk Love at an aspect ratio of approximately 2:35:1 and the other three closer to 1.85:1. Love Liza features Dolby Digital 2.0 audio (192Kbps), Masked and Anonymous and Owning Mahowny boast Dolby Digital 2.0 surround tracks (also encoded at 192Kbps), and Punch-Drunk Love is accompanied by Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (384Kbps).
Owning Mahowny includes a set of 16x9-enhanced static menus, and an insert listing the movie's twenty-eight chapter stops is provided inside the keepcase.
Conclusion: Strong material and an excellent performance by lead Philip Seymour Hoffman make Owning Mahoney, a movie that's likely to slip past most viewers' collective radar, well-worth viewing. Highly recommended as a rental, recommended as a purchase.
Related Links: The official Owning Mahowny has more background information about the movie, and Apple also has a trailer in Quicktime format on their site.
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