Click to read the article
Owning Mahowny (2003)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:72
Rotten:20
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: This story of addiction may lack the typical flash and glamour, but Hoffman makes Mahowny compelling.
Theatrical Release:May 2, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $726,886
Synopsis:
Polite, mild-mannered Dan Mahowny is an assistant bank manager with a head for numbers, a knack for making decisions, and a devastating appetite for gambling. Dan Mahowny is the unlikely hero who...
Polite, mild-mannered Dan Mahowny is an assistant bank manager with a head for numbers, a knack for making decisions, and a devastating appetite for gambling. Dan Mahowny is the unlikely hero who takes on two of the financial institutions everyone loves to hate, the bank and the casino, and, for a brief while, he wins.
The most remarkable thing about this phenomenal story of $10.2 million of siphoned bank funds, staggering levels of embezzlement, and millions upon millions of dollars funnelled through the gambling networks, is that its central character is unphenomenal. He doesn’t gamble for material wealth. He isn’t interested in the glamorous perks casinos offer big spenders. It never occurs to him to save any of his winnings. He lives for the thrill of the bet. And that thrill drives him to incredible lengths of ingenuity and stamina. He is, in the purest sense imaginable, an addict.
The backdrop of the story is 1982, deemed by economists as the beginning of the excessively profitable Reagan bull market. Banking confidence is high and scrutiny is low. This tidily overlaps with the world of casinos which are a stock exchange for the libido. It is a limitless world based on win or lose, where the win always seems within reach, yet stretches to infinity.
By day, Mahowny works obsessively in the bank; by night, he gambles obsessively on sports, ponies and at the gaming tables, but he is no Jekyll and Hyde. His personality remains constant throughout. So contradictory, yet complementary, is his behaviour that his girlfriend, Belinda, a clerk at the same branch, has to struggle to reconcile their romance.
Indulged by the management of the bank which flatters itself for having found its own wunderkind, nurtured by the Atlantic City casino manager who sees the banker as a meal ticket to Vegas, Mahowny finds himself in a gambler’s paradox - playing with increasing odds in order to win back the limitless funds which are his to take as long as he doesn’t get caught.
When this reluctant high-roller is finally arrested, Mahowny reveals that since his twelfth birthday, he hadn’t gone more than 72 hours without placing a bet. His compulsive nature comes to the surface in a most astonishing way - he asks the police to call the bank. He’s worried about being late for work. -- © 2002 Sony Pictures Classics
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chakin, John Hurt
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chakin, John Hurt, Sonja Smits, Ian Tracey, Chris Collins
Director: Richard Kwietniowski
Director: Richard Kwietniowski
Screenwriter: Maurice Chauvet
Producer: Seaton McLean, Alessandro Camon, Edward R. Pressman
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Get This Movie
Reviews for Owning Mahowny
what was fascinating character study becomes banal and unconvincing cautionary tale
...a movie that rejects the pyrotechnics, glamour and spectacle-mongering of mainstream Hollywood yet manages to engage, connect and transfix.
Watching Hoffman completely give himself over to his addiction is pretty draining. Although the film has a subtext … it's basically a ride down to the bottom with an addict.
The flick's absolutely worth seeing for Hoffman's performance alone, but there's also enough Casino / Heist goodness to keep you entertained.
Atmospheric and never flashy, and yet capable of moments of unbearable tension and an almost overpowering sense of paranoia.
Hoffman, sempre um ator interessante, oferece uma atuação digna dos grandes nomes da 7ª Arte, como Brando, De Niro e Sean Penn.
This is the fascinating thing about the movie, how Mahowny marches off to his doom, totally distracted from his fate by the thrill of gambling.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is like a stack of pure Inca gold in the world of thespian addicts - a world I dwell happily in…
Surprisingly upbeat story based, in part, on the real-life adventures of gambling addict Brian Moloney. While it’s interesting, it’s seldom affecting.
Whether or not you think of gambling as a vice, you can bet on Owning Mahowny.
Hoffman makes it impossible for us not to watch and not to enjoy it all on some subliminal level.
...this human car wreck methodically spins itself out with agonizing inevitability...that the film is also quite funny is an unexpected bonus.
This film felt more like a Canadian 'TV Movie of the Week' than anything.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 67% 67% | Bruno |
| 47% 47% | My Sister's Keeper |
| 66% 66% | Is Anybody There? |
| 82% 82% | Thirst |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Owning Mahowny at Rotten Tomatoes
- Owning Mahowny at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic


