Brian Mahowny
| Owning Mahowny | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Kwietniowski |
| Produced by | Andras Hamori Seaton McLean |
| Written by | Maurice Chauvet |
| Based on | Stung: The Incredible Obsession of Brian Molony by Gary Stephen Ross |
| Starring | Philip Seymour Hoffman John Hurt Minnie Driver Maury Chaykin |
| Music by | The Insects Richard Grassby-Lewis |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (US) Alliance Atlantis (CAN) |
Release date | |
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Countries | Canada United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $1 million |
Owning Mahowny is a 2003 Canadian film about gambling addiction with a cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chaykin and John Hurt. Based on the true story of a Toronto bank employee who embezzled more than $10 million to feed his gambling habit, Owning Mahowny was named one of the ten best films of the year by critic Roger Ebert.
Plot[edit]
Owning Mahowny and Alessandro Camon See more » Brian Molony. Brian Molony is a Canadian self-admitted compulsive former gambler from Toronto, famous for embezzling millions from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the second-largest bank in Canada, to feed his personal gambling habit. New!!: Owning Mahowny and Brian Molony See more ».
Between 1980 and 1982, Toronto bank employee Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is given access to bigger and 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, where he is treated like a king by the casino manager (John Hurt). Mahowny's girlfriend, fellow bank employee Belinda (Minnie Driver), cannot understand what is happening. Mahowny's criminal acts come to light when Toronto police begin to investigate his longtime bookie Frank (Maury Chaykin).
Brian Molony
A list of movies related to Gambling and/or poker. This list is made for the users of the Gaming community www.GamingHill.com where you can find a lot of more Gambling related stuff (tools, reviews, entertainment, games, forums etc). As Brian Mahowny, Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a complex and layered performance. His character is constantly tormented and his internal turmoil is physically expressed by Hoffman with an economy of movement and expression. A few tracks from the score to 'Owning Mahowny'. Based on the best-selling 1987 book ‘Stung’ by journalist Gary Ross, ‘Owning Mahowny’ this tells the true life story of banker Brian Molowny,who embezzled over $10 million from his employers in just 18 months to support his gambling habit. When a major losing streak leaves him busted and unable to cover his losses, Mahowny develops an ingenious plan to play the bank against the casino. But with time running out and the odds stacked against him, obsession becomes compulsion and the thrill of the bet is quickly replaced with a primal desire to stay in the game.
The movie's focus is on Mahowny as a character—how his compulsion drives him and all the domino effects it has on the rest of his life. The love story between Mahowny and Belinda and the inclusion of other finely drawn characters such as hapless casino employee Bernie (Chris Collins) put the emphasis squarely on the gamblingaddiction, not on the flash and sizzle of big casinos or multimillion-dollar frauds.
Cast[edit]
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dan Mahowny
- Minnie Driver as Belinda
- Maury Chaykin as Frank Perlin
- John Hurt as Victor Foss
- Sonja Smits as Dana Selkirk
- Ian Tracey as Detective Ben Lock
- Jason Blicker as Dave Quinson
- Chris Collins as Bernie
- Matthew Ferguson as Martin
- Janine Theriault as Maggie
- Conrad Dunn as Edgar
- Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang as Parking Attendant
- Philip Craig as Briggs
- Tony Munch as Observer #2
- M. J. Kang as Secretary
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Owning Mahowny is based on a real-life incident: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce clerk Brian Molonyembezzled 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.
In an interview on the web site 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 six years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud. He has not gambled since his arrest, has married his girlfriend, has three sons and works as a financial consultant.[1]
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 the late Edward Greenspan. He received a sentence of six years imprisonment, as sought by the Crown.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce took court action to recover funds from casinos in Atlantic City that enabled Mr. Malony's gambling addiction. The case was settled for an undisclosed sum.
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 79% based on reviews from 96 critics, with an average rating of 6.99/10.[2] On Metacritic the film has a score of 70% based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.[3]
Roger Ebert named Owning Mahowny one of the top ten films of 2003,[4] and assessed Hoffman's performance as 'a masterpiece of discipline and precision', calling him a 'fearless poet of implosion, [who] plays the role with a fierce integrity, never sending out signals for our sympathy because he knows that Mahowny is oblivious to our presence.'[5] 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.[6]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'.[6]
Brian Mahowny True Story
Asked whether Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal matched with 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.'[1]
Owning Mahowny earned $1 million, significantly less than its $10 million budget.[6]
Awards[edit]
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) at the 24th Genie Awards.
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Author Interview, Gary Ross'. McClelland & Stewart. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^'Owning Mahowny'. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- ^'Owning Mahowny'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
- ^Ebert, Roger, Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2006, ISBN0-226-18200-2, p. 453. Review[dead link] by Roger Ebert, May 16, 2003.
- ^Ebert, Roger. 'Owning Mahowny'. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ abcPomerance, Murray (October 19, 2011). Shining in Shadows: Movie Stars of the 2000s. Rutgers University Press. pp. 115–116. ISBN978-0-8135-5216-3.
Brian Mahowny
External links[edit]
- Owning Mahowny at IMDb
- Owning Mahowny at AllMovie
- Owning Mahowny at Box Office Mojo
- Reel Toronto: Owning Mahowny; filming locations detailed in The Torontoist, December 8, 2009