AllMovie

The good news is that Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in a highly disciplined and unwaveringly honest performance as Dan Mahowny. He doesn't step out of character to milk sympathy from the audience, doesn't chew the scenery to draw attention to his acting, and never suggests that he looks down on the character that he's playing. He's so true to the character's obsessive nature that sometimes he won't look up to make eye contact with others when he gambles. The bad news, however, is the same as the good news: Hoffman's performance remains doggedly true to a character that isn't particularly appealing or exciting. As presented in the film, Mahowny is unassuming, doesn't have a lot of endearing qualities, and is so obsessive that he rarely seems to be enjoying himself even when he's winning. Furthermore, Minnie Driver's role as his neglected girlfriend Belinda doesn't enable the audience to see Mahowny's finer qualities through someone else's eyes; we never find out what she sees in him and she isn't sufficiently developed as a character to arouse much interest in her side of the story. Maury Chaykin is able to put some life into his performance as Mahowny's bookie and John Hurt seems to be having a grand old time as an opportunistic casino manager, which helps perk up the movie. Also, the filmmakers do a good job of stripping the movie of personal warmth (e.g., the use of artificial light) and making things look drab (Mahowny's dowdy attire) or gauche (some of the casino furnishings). Like Hoffman's performance, this is good because it's true to the spirit of the film, but it doesn't necessarily make the movie very exciting (although some viewers will enjoy seeing some of the tackier furnishings). Owning Mahowney is a reasonably interesting story, even though the screenplay doesn't contain a lot of surprising moments; however, the filmmakers don't offer a lot of insight into the characters or enough clever twists to liven up the film.