Chancer S02 1080p WEB h264-WEBTUBE
A business adviser uses all means necessary to help his friends out of financial ruins. However he has a moral code. Also, his unresolved family past won't leave him alone.
Genre: Drama
Stars: Clive Owen, Clive Owen
Greed and Sleaze, Before They Were Cool
By SUSAN STEWART
Oct. 7, 2007
It's hard to be sure who's double-crossing whom in "e;Chancer,"e; the British television series that made Clive Owen a star in 1990. As "e;Dynasty"e; plots unfold on "e;Masterpiece Theater"e; sets, thick accents and mixed motives combine to make some scenes of this business soap opera almost unintelligible. But be patient. By the third hour of the 13-episode first season, now available on DVD, the ethically challenged "e;Chancer"e; characters distill themselves into a fascinating ensemble, providing excellent support for Mr. Owen's teasing, memorable performance.
He plays Stephen Crane, a brash investment banker in London at the height of the greedy 1980s. At least that's his job at the start. Soon he leaves the city - not entirely of his own volition - to work as an adviser to Douglas Motors, a genteel family business whose product, the luxury Leopard automobile, is made with such care that nobody involved with it is likely ever to turn a profit.
Crane's foil at Douglas Motors is the patriarch Robert Douglas (played by Benjamin Whitrow), an elder statesman whose values make him a naif in the world of high-risk banking. "e;It's possible to do one's job and be a human being at the same time,"e; he says, a truism that "e;Chancer"e; tries to disprove for the next 12 hours.
The Douglas family takes Crane to its tweedy bosom. Douglas likes Crane's "e;fight."e; Daughter Victoria (Lynsey Baxter) just likes Crane. So does Jo Franklyn (Susannah Harker). Her father (Peter Vaughan) is a Robert Maxwell figure whose Machiavellian machinations make Crane look like an innocent.
Then there is Jimmy Blake (Leslie Phillips), Crane's former boss and nemesis, possibly cast because Oscar Wilde was unavailable. Blake is fey, fussy and without conscience or caring, except where his automobile is concerned. "e;If you so much as dribble on my chromium,"e; he tells his assistant, "e;I shall disembowel you."e;
In the same pub, Robert Douglas complains that it's so loud, "e;you can't hear yourself drink."e;
Such self-conscious cleverness would get old if it weren't served up in small doses, among business takeovers, marital strife, life-changing wagers and romantic dalliances. There's so much going on that it's hard to take any of it seriously, which is the point. "e;Chancer"e; is a perfect vehicle for the young Mr. Owen. Known for what The New York Times has called his "e;volcanic charisma"e; in movies like "e;Closer"e; and "e;The Children of Men,"e; Mr. Owen reins it in here. His Crane is a good-humored and highly stylized scalawag.
His character has odd rhythms, starting and stopping sentences in unexpected ways, and occasionally breaking television's "e;fourth wall."e; Watching Victoria toss his suitcase out of her car as she drives away, leaving him on a lonely country lane, Mr. Owen practically does a dance step as he says, addressing the camera, "e;It's love!"e;
Of course, it's not; Stephen Crane couldn't possibly love anyone as much as he loves himself. But tell that to Blake's secretary, around whom Crane channels 007. (Mr. Owen was at one point shortlisted for the big British prize that starts with "e;B"e; - Bond, not Booker) Or tell it to anyone who likes Elvis or Nicolas Cage; Mr. Owen could be their love child.
"e;Chancer"e; ends with a degree of sincerity, achieved at some cost to comedy. But it's not the earnest moments you'll remember; it's the cynicism and skulduggery. Both are served up with a wink by Mr. Owen. And that is itself a form of sincerity. No matter how many people his character tries to con, this actor never seems to be conning the audience.
General
Complete name: Chancer.S02E01.1080p.WEB.h264-WEBTUBE.mkv
Format : Matroska
Duration : 51 min 5 s
Video
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec: Bit rate : 7 814 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Audio
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec: Bit rate : 96.0 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Language : English
Subtitles : English
Screens
