''Owning Mahowny'' is a 2003 Canadian film starring Philip Seymour Hoffman,

Minnie Driver Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is a British and American actress and singer. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in the 1995 film ''Circle of Friends (1995 film), Circle of Friends''. She went on to star i ...

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian actor. Described as "one of the most recognizable faces in Canadian cinema," he was best known for his portrayal of Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe on the televi ...

and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

. The film is based on the true story of Brian Molony, a

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

bank employee who embezzled more than $10 million to feed his

gambling addiction Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...

. ''Owning Mahowny'' was named one of the ten best films of the year by critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

Plot

Between 1980 and 1982,

bank employee Dan Mahowny is given access to bigger accounts with his promotion to assistant branch manager. His boss trusts him, but is unaware that Mahowny is a compulsive gambler. Mahowny is soon skimming larger and larger amounts for his own use and making weekly trips to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, where he is treated like a king by the

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

manager. Mahowny's girlfriend, fellow bank employee Belinda, cannot understand what is happening. Mahowny's criminal acts come to light when Toronto police begin to investigate his longtime bookie Frank.

Cast

Real-life inspiration

''Owning Mahowny'' is based on the life of a real person.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...

clerk Brian Molony embezzled over $10 million from his employers in just 18 months to support his gambling habit. Molony's story was told in the best-selling 1987 book ''Stung'' by journalist Gary Ross, which formed the basis for the screenplay. Molony was a manager at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with access to significant resources. Upon the discovery of his gambling addiction and his crime, he was prosecuted in Canada by Crown Attorney Peter DeJulio. Molony was defended by Edward Greenspan. He received a sentence of six years imprisonment, as sought by the Crown. In an interview on the website of ''Stung'' publishers McClelland and Stewart, Ross says he has kept in touch with Molony and updated what happened to him after the events portrayed in the movie. Molony served only two years of his sentence. He has not gambled since his arrest, has married his girlfriend, has three sons and works as a financial consultant. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took court action to recover funds from casinos in Atlantic City that enabled Molony's gambling addiction. The case was settled for an undisclosed sum.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a score of 78% based on reviews from 96 critics, with an average rating of 6.99/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 70% based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

named ''Owning Mahowny'' one of the top ten films of 2003, and assessed Hoffman's performance as "a masterpiece of discipline and precision", calling him a "fearless poet of implosion, hoplays the role with a fierce integrity, never sending out signals for our sympathy because he knows that Mahowny is oblivious to our presence." However, some critics believed that in his self-effacing performance, Hoffman refused to conform to expectations of a typical movie character and that the movie suffered as a result. Stephanie Zacharek considered him to be a "character who squirms right out of our grasp", and despite being the movie's anchor, he's "such a vaporous one, he leaves ''us'' feeling adrift". Asked whether Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal matched the real Brian Molony, journalist Gary Ross replied, "Remarkably so. They have the same stocky build, bushy moustache, glasses, slightly unkempt look, and earnestness. And Philip somehow managed to assimilate the psychic essence of Molony — a yawning emptiness that nothing except gambling was able to fill." ''Owning Mahowny'' earned $1 million, significantly less than its $10 million budget.

Awards

''Owning Mahowny'' received nominations for Best Motion Picture, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Screenplay (Adapted) and Best Achievement in Music — Original Score (Richard Grassby-Lewis,

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

) at the

24th Genie Awards The 24th Genie Awards were held on May 1, 2004, to honour films released in 2003. The ceremony was hosted by Scott Thompson (comedian), Scott Thompson."He's gonna spank that Genie". ''The Globe and Mail'', May 1, 2004. The ceremony was broadcast o ...

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, owningmahowny
Reel Toronto: ''Owning Mahowny''
filming locations detailed in The Torontoist, December 8, 2009 2003 films 2003 crime drama films 2003 independent films 2000s British films 2000s Canadian films 2000s business films 2000s English-language films British crime drama films Canadian crime drama films British films about gambling Canadian films about gambling English-language Canadian films Films based on biographies Films directed by Richard Kwietniowski Films set in Atlantic City, New Jersey Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto Films shot in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sony Pictures Classics films Stock trading films English-language independent films English-language crime drama films