The Movie: Owning Mahowny is a small time movie based on a book that is based on a true story. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Dan Mahowny, an assistant bank manager in Toronto who embezzled millions of dollars in the early 80's in order to feed his massive gambling problem. This film first interested me because of the gambling theme, and though I never got the chance to see it in the theater, it was definitely worth the rental.

This film takes the point of view that deep down inside problem gamblers really want to lose -- that they only like winning because it gives them more money to lose later, and in some cases, I think this assessment is very true. If you've spent as much time in casinos as I have, you know that there are fewer sights sadder than a problem gambler who you just know is not having a good time, but keeps pushing those bets out there even though you can see it in their eyes that they don't want to. They have to.

Dan Mahowny is just that sort of person. He doesn't care about the lavish comped suites, show tickets, gourmet food and all the other free stuff that casinos give to keep their high rollers making those big bets. All he cares about is the next bet he's going to make. He doesn't car if it's a smart bet or a dumb bet, he just has to bet. On something. Anything.

And of course, the casinos don't care about the people's lives, all they want is their money, and Owning Mahowny certainly portrays casino executives as greedy and callous, concerned only with the bottom line and not with the lives they are destroying.

If you haven't figured out by now, this is one of those "downward spiral" type movies where things start bad, get worse, and when things seem like they can't get any worse, they get worse. This is definitely not an uplifting film, so don't come looking for some slick and cool Vegas movie here. But every once in a while it feels good to watch something that doesn't have a storybook happy ending, and if you're in one of those kinds of moods, Owning Mahowny fits right in, especially if you're looking for something a little different from your standard Hollywood fare.

The DVD: This is a pretty bare bones disc. The only special feature is a trailer, and the trailers of some other Sony Pictures Classics films. Hooray.

The video transfer is pretty mediocre. While it was fairly clean, the image just seemed flat and lifeless. Maybe it's supposed to be that way, I don't know, but there was also a certain softness to the picture that just made me feel like I was watching it through dirty glasses or something. It wasn't bad enough to call it bad, but it certainly wasn't good.

Audio was fairly clean, with some dizzying use of surround effects toward the beginning of the film, but once things got underway, the overall presentation was very straightforward, nothing fancy.

I personally wouldn't buy this DVD, but it was definitely worth the rental, especially if you're looking for something to watch other than typical Hollywood fluff.