Owning Mahowny

Color. R (language, mature themes, nudity) 104 min., VHS rental, DVD $24.98

DVD: no extras

Street: Oct. 14, Prebook: Sept. 23

First Run: L, May 2003, $1 mil.

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Storytelling), Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting), John Hurt (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone),

Sonja Smits (TV's TekWar)

Director: Richard Kwietniowski

COLUMBIA

Story Line: Dan Mahowny (Hoffman), a Toronto bank executive, devises a way to take massive amounts of money from his clients' accounts and use them to bankroll his gambling addiction. Mahowny threatens the relationship with girlfriend Belinda (Driver) the deeper he gets into debt with an Atlantic City casino run by Victor Foss (Hurt).

Bottom Line: Intense and exciting in a realistic, low-key way, this true story shows the human side of a gambling problem gone out-of-control, leading to the biggest bank fraud in Canada. In a tour de force performance, Hoffman elicits empathy for the deeply troubled lead character, a mild-mannered everyman who lives for the thrill of placing a big bet. The supporting cast is equally fine, boasting colorful turns by Hurt as the slick casino executive and Chaykin as a bookie with whom Hoffman does business. --Irv Slifkin

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