Guidry-Croupier Editing

It's the eyebrows...definitely.

In this frame, Clive Owen's character, Jack Manfried, appears superior and confident in his position of power as he leans above a symbol of the gambling addiction that had once upon a time ruined his life. What he comes to realize after a time is that his involvement in a casino heist is indeed an adrenaline-pumping gamble, yet he decidedly talks himself out of believing that he was gambling not only with money, but also with his life. Although Jack worked in the beginning of the film to strategically exclude himself from the entrapments of his scheming father and the selfish deeds of his alter-ego Jake, the pivotal point in the film at which he coalesces to the pleas of an attractive naked woman (that he is undoubtedly intrigued by) presents the time-old cliché of man's ultimate weakness in the form of femininity.

Don't be misled here, I am not complaining; I embraced that moment in the film when Jani entered the bedroom naked with humor and an uncontrollable smirk, saying to myself, "Oh, damn. She's about to do him in... Poor Jack." I'd like to ask the screenwriters, though, why did he have to lose everything in order to finish his book? True enough, the trade-offs for wealth and/or success in modern societies aim to be family relationships, friendships, and self-worth, but why did he have to lose Marion? Comments are welcomed here.

As far as the editing style goes, the classical cutting in this film makes the thematic mirroring of events more apparent and relate-able by placing more emphasis on Jack's dispositions as things went on (example: his nervous demeanor after being caught cheating matched his demeanor with Marion upon learning that she knew about the heist). There were some moments of jump-cutting that the director gets away with due to the narrative nature of the film, labeling such cuts as "chapter" skipping that sort of mocks the notion of thematic montage. All in all, this "realistic" tale of fateful happenings portrays the protagonist as a very confined man whose attempts at living through his passions for love and writing are interrupted, if not destroyed, by his shady beginnings. He loses both the woman he loves and his desire to write by the end of the film, and accepts being victimized by his father, the man who embodies his regret.