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| Owning
Mahowny
Directed By: Richard
Kwietniowski Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| Brian Mahowny was a rising star at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. At twenty-four he was assistant manager of a major branch in the heart of Toronto's financial district. To his colleagues he was a workaholic. To his customers, he was astute, decisive and helpful. To his friends, he was a quiet, but humorous man who enjoyed watching sports on television. To his girlfriend, he was shy but engaging. None of them knew the other side of Brian Mahowny--the side that executed the largest single-handed bank fraud in Canadian history, grossing over $10 million in eighteen months to feed his gambling obsession. [TRAILER] The very things that give “Owning Mahowny” its unique edge are also what keep it from rising above what it is. Based on real events that occurred in Toronto in the early 1980’s, “Mahowny” is a character study of a man who sacrifices everything in his life for the thrill of gambling. Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is an assistant bank manager, steals millions from his employer, and takes one trip after another to Atlantic City and Las Vegas as he loses it all. In the process he alienates his friends, ostracizes his longtime-girlfriend and would-be wife, and makes even his bookie uncomfortable with obsessive and compulsive bets. It all starts innocently enough. Mahowny owes his bookie money, just over $10,000 to be exact. And, in a heart-wrenching scene, he fabricates a loan document, using the funds solely to pay off his debt. But once he has stolen, and witnessed the ease with which he is able to do it, Mahowny sees an entirely new means of fueling his gambling addiction. He takes out another few thousand, and then tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands of dollars. Suddenly he is treated like the V.I.P.’s he used to admire at his favorite casinos. The casino managers find ways to wine and dine him, always excited about this sucker who entered their lobby with a full wallet. And his girlfriend, while no means an accomplice, is certainly an enabler. Movies about addiction have been made before. The most effective recent releases, “Traffic” and “Requiem For A Dream,” made their mark by looking closely at the story’s addicts, exposing their inner thoughts and fears, and witnessing how their decisions completely destroy their lives. “Owning Mahowny,” in an interesting decision, does not attempt to probe beneath the exterior of its subject. Instead, the audience’s perspective is limited to Mahowny’s actions and progressions, never given an insight that might lead to sympathy or empathy. Most often the film serves as a passive record of Mahowny’s fall from grace, as he refuses to realize the pain he is bringing upon himself and those who love him. At several points within the film, he is asked if he has a gambling problem. And, without fail, he says no, “I have a financial problem.” Obviously a problem he intends to solve through winning back his losses. The power of this film is that the audience knows how he will answer these questions before he says a word, and accepts the solemn fact that his end is near. After he overcomes the difficulty of stealing his first few thousand, the beast of gambling consumes him. As he sits, silent and focused, at the blackjack table or the roulette wheel, he embodies a man who gambles out of need, not out of choice. But that very detachment, which helps the viewer view Mahowny’s situation objectively, and destroys any hope for his redemption, also prevents the film from lighting a brighter emotional spark. “Owning Mahowny” is far more detached documentary than intimate drama, and while Mahowny’s story may be more believable in the long run, it is also slightly less engaging. By the tenth trip to the casino, it is obvious that Mahowny is falling and that the end is near. And while one viewing of this film definitely leaves its mark, it’s a depressing tale with nothing deeper to be found. Much like Mahowny with his closest friends, the audience is always kept at a strict distance. Some films grow on people over time. Despite Hoffman’s brilliant, subdued performance, “Mahowny” will not be one of them.  Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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