User reviews

Fast Eddie Felson is one of the all-time great anti-heroes. He is a drifter who is arrogant and has used many people in his life to get where he is. But when where he is is nowhere, he grows up. He learns the value of lost opportunity, and he gains integrity at a high price. It is worth a look for anyone who wants to see the redemption of a lovable curmudgeon.

It's an intriguing idea. If a person is talented, that person should be a winner. And, we would expect a loser to be someone who is not talented. But the idea that someone could be a talented loser is a paradox, a contradiction that doesn't fit into the conventional mindset of American culture, and is the basis for "The Hustler", a character study of an ace pool player who can't seem to win respect from his peers.

The pool player is (Fast) Eddie Felson (Paul Newman). The plot moves along by means of four secondary characters with whom Fast Eddie interacts: (1) his manager, Charlie; (2) the veteran pool player, Minnesota Fats; (3) Eddie's girlfriend, Sarah; and (4) the money man, Bert Gordon.

"The Hustler" is very much a product of the late 50's and early 60's, when progressive filmmakers were trying to buck the staid post WWII era, with its reactionary Cold War mentality that resulted in strict conformity to established American values. In this film, Bert Gordon and Minnesota Fats represent the establishment. Eddie Felson is the loner, up against the establishment; he's the renegade kid, out to beat the system. Yet, at every turn, the establishment beats Eddie, one way or another. His idealism is useless. He must conform to the establishment's rules, expressed in the film as "character", or give up his dreams.

The film is therefore very cynical and incredibly cold. From start to finish, there's not an ounce of humor. It depresses the spirit. But the film is a very good metaphor for a terrible era wherein societal repression was the norm.

While the story's main character may be a loser, the film itself is a talented winner. The excellent B&W lighting, together with a jazzy score, create an effectively somber and downbeat tone, consistent with the oppressive political atmosphere of that era. The dialogue is sparse and incisive. And the acting is persuasive. Paul Newman is convincing, as are the secondary characters. I especially liked the performance of Jackie Gleason, who comes across as suave, serious, and in total control, a great contrast to his comedic side, in "The Honeymooners".

"The Hustler" is depressing and grim. But the film is very well made. It entertains in ways that are obvious, and educates in ways that are subtle.

Fast Eddie Nelson, can handle a pool cue, potting balls around a table, with his top spin and back screw, often suckers other punters, as he pillages and plunders, a trickster and a hunter, with impressive follow through. Now Minnesota Fats, hasn't lost in 15 years, but Eddie's really confident, he'll keep him sitting in his chair, but his temperament defeats, and the fat man duly beats, after being well ahead, he's now behind and in arrears. At a station he meets Sarah, she's a drinker in despair, after one or two encounters they begin a love affair, though they fight and shout and wrangle, there's three in this paired triangle, playing Fats again the angle, it's a cross she'll have to bear.

So much more than a film about pool, with two out of this world performances from Paul Newman and Piper Laurie and top drawer support from George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason. As brilliant as it was when it was made, those two lead roles just mind blowing.

"The Hustler" is steeped in the seedy atmosphere of smoke-filled pool halls in the ugly urban hinterland of America. The Ames Billiard Hall is funereal in feel. When 'Fast Eddie' Felson walks in with Charlie, his manager, Charlie remarks, "These tables are the slabs they lay the stiffs on." The film is about the talented men who perform, but equally about the talentless predators who exploit them. The habitues of the pool hall cling to the shadows. They wince when a blind is opened and sunlight gets in. A new hustler enters, and these vultures gather silently on the margins.

Eddie is the youngster hungry for glory. He and Charlie pose as salesmen and Eddie feigns drunkenness, hooking the punters by repeating an almost-impossible shot. For all the slickness of the con, Eddie is impatient for bigger things. He wants to challenge Minnesota Fats, the best hustler in the land.

Newman gets his name above the title, but this is a film with four exquisite pieces of acting. Jackie Gleason as Minnesota, Piper Laurie as Sarah and George C Scott, playing Bert Gordon, turn in wonderful performances.

Eddie matures as the story progresses. He starts as a cheap chiseller, hustling ten bucks, but ambition carries him to Louisville and the world of the high rollers. Sarah's love opens emotional dimensions in him which he previously lacked. Bert Gordon confronts him with his own spiritual inadequacies, forcing him to understand himself. Eddie is jejune in the first game against the Fat Man, but by the second meeting he is emotionally strong, and completely his own man. He has made the spiritual journey from the whining "everybody wants a piece of me" to the inner knowledge that Sarah bequeathed him - that only those who give can truly live.

Bert Gordon, with his dark glasses and hawkish features, is a creature of the night. Loving the 'action' of a clash of talents, but lacking any talent of his own, Gordon is the predator on the sidelines. Hearing of the new hustler's presence, Gordon arrives soundlessly and sits watching intently for hours. His dark genius sees the weakness in every soul. In the bar, when he and Eddie talk business, Gordon is foreshortened to look tiny alongside the talented youngster. For all his money and sharp wits, Gordon will never be more than a parasite living off the ability of others. Finally, Eddie and Fats walk into the sunlight, heroes who have proved themselves. Gordon remains perched on his gloomy barstool, a prisoner in his own dark kingdom.

If Sarah is the vulnerable, physically-disabled woman who relies on drink too heavily, the victim of the men she encounters, she is also the heart of the movie. She destroys Gordon's certainty and she shows Eddie the meaning of love. Her tragedy is Eddie's salvation. She and Eddie find each other in a deserted bus station in the dead hours. They are both lost souls, Citizens of Hell. She is the deformed girl with the empty life, and he is the emotional cripple with no resources of education or character to sustain him. They cling to each other as if shipwrecked. When the seduction comes, Sarah hesitates. She knows this will lead to suffering. "Why me?" she asks, then surrenders to her fate.

The time when Eddie's hands are in plaster is Sarah's brief season of happiness. She stops drinking and even makes progress with her writing. Somebody needs her, belongs completely to her. It cannot last.

"I made you up, Eddie," Sarah tells him, and in a sense she did. She imagined him to be loyal and stable. On the night when the truth dawns, Sarah goes from feeling pretty in her new dress to being a rain-sodden wreck. She is supplanted in Eddie's attention by the sinister Gordon, who asserts the new power-balance in the railroad dining-car. The hotel suites are adjoining, and though Sarah closes all the doors, she can't keep Gordon out. By Findlay's party, she has hit the bottle again. The patterned dress which Eddie bought her, a symbol of her incarceration, has the shadow of the ballustrade projected onto it, seemingly magnifying her sense of ensnarement.

Though Jackie Gleason does very little in this film, he dominates it. On screen for a fraction of the film's totality, and having neither great speeches nor grand gestures, he impresses by his sheer presence. Stillness, self-containment and an ironic amusement make Minnesota Fats the perfect foil for the angry, ambitious Eddie. In the final showdown, Fats' quiet poise outshines the grandstanding of the others. Gleason conveys beautifully the fear at the core of this big dandy. When Eddie has him in trouble, the Fat Man begins to lose his sartorial integrity as his confidence unravels.

This contrast of stillness and motion is effective in the first meeting of the hustlers. Fats and Gordon, who know what they are about, remain motionless and tranquil. Eddie the incontinent wannabe gradually loses control of both mouth and limbs. The film is rich in symbolic language. The cheap rooms which Eddie rents are mere boxes for hire, like the bus station locker which he lives out of. When he and Sarah meet for the second time, the inevitability of their coupling is conveyed in a scene without words or gestures. Eddie's plastercasts are manacles - without his hands, he is nothing. A sumptuous restaurant and a happy couple are transformed when the brutal truth emerges. The camera angle is reversed, and Eddie and Sarah are now separated by gaunt shelves of crockery. The illusion has been shattered. When Eddie sneaks out on the sleeping Sarah with the stake money in his hand, it is the betrayal of Charlie re-enacted.

A marvellous film is enhanced by a superbly sleazy jazz score (Kenyon Hopkins) and the violence is all the more gut-wrenching for being suggested, rather than shown.

Verdict - probably a masterpiece.

This is, without a doubt, the closest anything out of Hollywood ever came to touching the soul of a pool player. Paul Newman plays "Fast Eddie" Felson, a young player from California who travels east to take on the ultimate challenge: to beat "Minnesota Fats," played by the late Jackie Gleason.

Willie Mosconi, probably the greatest pool player who ever walked the Earth, was technical adviser and choreographed many of the game sequences. On technical merit alone, this film is a pool player's classic. Beyond that, however, the way "Fast Eddie" takes to his skills and relationships pushes this film out as a classic for the general audience. In one scene, he is describing what it is like to be really good at something. It is one of the best speeches about excellence I have ever heard. This is one of my top three films. On a scale of ten, I give it an eleven.

I've seen The Hustler repeated times, thought not as many as some of the other commentators. Recently I saw it for the first time in the theater, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Watching "The Hustler" in a theater is like listening to Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" album: you start to see and even hear things in black and white. You know the pool tables are green, and the balls are multi-colored, but somehow the black and white perfectly matches the colorless existence of the protagonist and his supporting players. You can smell the cigarettes, taste the booze.

Newman, Gleason, Scott, and Laurie all turn in great performances. But this movie, made after the heyday of the studio players' contract, still bears the hallmark of great movies from that era: strong supporting performances all the way down the line. Vincent Gardenia, for pete's sake, as the unlucky bartender in the first scene! Michael Constantine as Big John. Myron McCormick as Charlie, Eddie's sponsor most of the way through the movie. And Murray Hamilton as the millionaire Southern mark. This movie was made when supporting roles were an end in themselves, by actors who believed every second they were on screen should be of high quality.

The day I wrote this review -- January 18, 2004 -- The Hustler was no. 143 on the Top 250 list. No way are there 142 better movies.

Because of his tragically erratic, often interrupted career, Robert Rossen is rarely put into the pantheon of great Hollywood directors. However, he produced three films which deserve a permanent place among the classics, All the Kings Men( probably the best film about American politics), Lilith( one of the greatest films about mental illness) and this, a movie which DESERVES to be ranked with the hundred greatest, and possibly the fifty greatest, American films. It is superbly acted, brilliantly photographed and edited, and directed with clarity and assurance. In a just world ( if there is such a place), an special Oscar would have been bestowed on Newman, Laurie, Scott, and Gleason AS A GROUP. Piper Laurie was unforgettably poignant, Scott unforgettably sleazy, and Gleason... well, Gleason simply IS Minnesota Fats. Paul Newman almost certainly deserved the Oscar.It was an amusing irony, perhaps a little joke by God, that the bartender in the movie was played by none other than Jake LaMotta.

The Hustler had the misfortune to be up against films like West Side Story and Judgment at Nuremberg in 1961. Another year it might have carried away more Academy gold than just for black and white cinematography and for black and white art&set direction.

A lot of people think The Hustler is about pool, what it really is about is obsession at being the best and how it can cost you in other things that really matter.

Paul Newman as Eddie Felson is one such obsessed creature. He wants to be the best pool player ever. To do that in the words of that eminent 20th century philosopher Ric Flair, "to be the man, you got to beat the man."

The man is Jackie Gleason playing the legendary Minnesota Fats, champion pool player of all. They have a marathon match in which Newman seems to have the upper hand, but Gleason pulls it out in the end. Nevertheless Newman comes to the attention of George C. Scott, a gambler who wants to use him for his own ends.

Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott both got nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, but lost to George Chakiris in West Side Story. Scott is a dangerous and malevolent figure, he was probably at his most evil on the screen in this role.

Piper Laurie got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and this turned out to be her career role. She's an alcoholic floozy with some dreams that keep her ego afloat, but she loves and respects Newman. They complement each other's needs and Newman finds that out way too late. Laurie unfortunately lost to Sophia Loren in Two Women.

But what I liked best about The Hustler is the contrast between Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. Gleason is on screen at the beginning and at the end. Note how he sits apart from everyone in the pool room. No social life, no people in his orbit, it's lonely at the top. And to stay there Gleason dedicates himself to pool to the exclusion of everything else.

Yet this is who the ambitious, but very vulnerable Newman wants to be. In creating his character Newman gave it equal doses of ambition and vulnerability, both working at the same time. Not an easy thing to do, but Newman is at the top of his game as Eddie Felson. Sadly Newman lost the Oscar that year to Maximilian Schell in Judgment at Nuremberg.

But eventually some 25 years later Paul Newman got the Oscar for playing a more mature Eddie Felson in The Color of Money. A kind of justice, certainly few players ever get that kind of opportunity again.

The Hustler was also up for Best Picture and Best Director for Robert Rossen. It lost to West Side Story in both categories. Both films hold up well after almost half a century, that was a tough call for Academy voters.

The Hustler is about pool the way Moby Dick is about a whale. And there both classics.

This must be one of the best movies I have ever seen. Just about everything was perfect about it.

The acting was top-notch, especially George C. Scott as the Hustler hustling the hustler. His performance gave the movie a gritty underworld feel to it. Piper Laury delivers a powerhouse performance as the ill-fated drunk girlfriend of the lead player Paul Newman. He probably delivers one of his best roles to date. Just like Robert De Niro in Raging Bull he plays a character who is incapable of handling the pressures of fame and fortune, who is as George C. Scott's says "A born loser". If you look in Newman's eyes during the picture you can see the troubles he is going through. He loves the girl, but is unable to express this because he is afraid she will know the real him. He has to keep playing this Hustler-character all through his life to keep himself going. He knows nothing other than playing pool and hustling people out of their money.

The cinematography was absolutely brilliant alongside the set-dressing. The dirty, low-life feeling that must have hung around these dives called poolhalls was conveyed perfectly to the screen through brilliant lighting and art direction. The scenes in which Newman plays the different people at the pool table were shot and edited to near perfection (which has been redone again to near perfection in The Color of Money by Martin Scorsese).

The music gave a real emotional feel to this moving picture. Kenyon Hopkins deserves all the credit for this.

Absolutely a must-see for everybody who like to watch movies that are worth watching.

10/10

The Hustler is a well-made movie, but I think the filmmakers overestimated how interesting a game of pool is, and they overestimated the chemistry between Eddie and Sarah. Piper Laurie's performance, in particular, feels very wooden and the story drags on a little long. But Paul Newman plays his part well, and I wish we could have gotten more of Jackie Gleason.

The Hustler is a classic 1961 film about the shady pool halls of the post-WWII era. Anyone of the three main characters could fill the titular role, whether it be Paul Newman's up-and-comer, Jackie Gleason's man-to-beat, or George C. Scott's behind-the-scenes angle-shooter.

These three stars (all-Oscar nominated) carry the picture, both individually and collectively. The thirty-ish Newman is simply a revelation to anyone (me) who hasn't seen him act much in his prime. He perfectly captures the smooth, in control but on the edge persona of Fast Eddie, who has the physical tools, but not necessarily the mental skills to be a champion. Gleason likewise perfectly fills the body and clothes of Minnesota Fats, with a graceful elegance uncommon to a man of his size. Scott (who declined his Oscar nomination) could easily have been overshadowed in his role, but his subtle and shifty eyes and movements create a character that occasionally outshines his two huge co-stars.

The Hustler reaches its zeniths when at least two of these men are on the screen. The dialogue exchanges of Newman and Scott as they feel each other out crackle with intensity. Gleason and Scott ooze wary respect for each other; and Newman and Gleason combine admiration and competitiveness into one neat package from which the entire film derives its energy.

A film about pool sharks seems to demand brilliant representation of its colorful world. But French cinematographer Eugene Shuftan instead opts for black-and-white, which surprisingly works wonderfully. His Oscar-winning imagery particularly excels in displaying light and shadows, such as the sun streaming into smoke-filled billiards halls. Shuftan accomplishes an exceptional feat, using a monotone style to effectively paint vivid pictures.

Despite high achievement in so many areas, The Hustler suffers from Doughnut Syndrome: there's a hole in the middle. The pool scenes that bracket the story are very good, and one middle scene between Newman and Scott is the best of the film, but the romantic portion of the story flounders. The drifter Newman falls for a fellow drifter (Piper Laurie) for no apparent reason, other than alcohol and the fact that they're both alone. To their credit, they do acknowledge that their relationship is flimsy and depraved, but the movie squanders too much times on this wafer-thin story arc, rather than stick with what works.

Those parts succeed wildly, about as enjoyable as any scenes ever shot, but without adequate buttressing material, the film as a whole falls short of the high watermark left by its parts.

Bottom Line: Phenomenal at times, but subpar at others, the male performances carry the film. Seven of ten, but definitely worth viewing if you haven't seen it yet.

Incredibly strained and ambitious, every scene feels either like a fight is about to erupt or a fight does erupt. The acting is hammy, and aside from Jackie Gleason's engagingly laid back Minnesota Fats, most of the performances are strident and strenuous, and don't stand the test of time.

There are too many parallels with On the Waterfront, A Face In the Crowd, and probably even Somebody up There Likes Me, for comfort, or at least my comfort, as I continually had a feeling of deja vu while watching this film, which at times feels like a pastiche of better, earlier movies.

For all this, the film has its virtues. Eugene Schuftan's photography is one. There are scenes in bus stations, on city streets, and cheap apartments that capture a certain neglected aspect of the urban sixties that wasn't to show up again on screen for many years, till Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy, by which time things had changed a good deal. Marginal lives, much less places, are seldom shown honestly in movies, with the bark off, so to speak, and no sentimentality. Here director Robert Rossen shows himself to be once more the brilliant and compassionate New Dealer he was in earlier days, and as sharp an observer of human life as ever there was.

Positives: The cinematography deserved all of its Oscar, and George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason are majestic. When they're on screen or the story picks up, it's a gripping movie. There's not a duff turn among the supporting cast either.

Negatives: Was Newman trying to be Brando? Because for me, his performance bombs - he looks like a nerdy college kid trying to act tough, the cockiness is totally forced and overplayed. And what are the redeeming features of Piper Laurie's character that Eddie puts up with her? She goes around being a mouse and bringing everybody down, the wrong sort of drunk for the story. These tough guys would have found a good-time gal, or at least told her to cheer up once in a while. If Eddie's trying to help her because he feels the need to help himself it doesn't come over in the script. Her aspirations to becoming a writer consist of four lines typed up one drunken afternoon, and the three (ten-dollar) words on the mirror. That's pantomime. There's no hint that she knows she's deceiving herself, or drinking secretly, or that she has any inner pain at all - she's just grumpy ALL the time. (She had polio and her father died - that's it? Maybe it's the hairdo). Sarah's misery is all taken as read, same as Eddie's genius (he never practices) and the characters come across as half-baked. Sarah's story also steals the focus from Eddie; she does make a far bigger sacrifice after all. But because the character is so thinly written, there's no chemistry between her and anybody. In fact the only dramatic tension is in the pool contests, which may make you feel 'The Hustler' is better than it is.

Presumably this movie was part of the early 60's gritty realism trend in drama, but these preppy actors attempting a methody thing with the progressively more overripe script just come across as pretentious. 'The Cincinnatti Kid' is a far better sports drama of the time. 'The Hustler' tries to do too much.

The Hustler (1961)

**** (out of 4)

'Fast' Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) shows up to play the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in a game of pool and soon the hotshot realizes that there's more to winning than just talent. After some time off the hustler winds up with a woman (Piper Laurie) who suffers from alcohol abuse but even worse is when he teams up with a gambler (George C. Scott).

Robert Rossen's THE HUSTLER is without question one of the greatest films of its type. Most people are connected to it because of its story of a hustler and the gambling aspect but there are some of the greatest performances you're ever going to see on display here as well as a pretty depressing look at losers. Throughout the movie Felson is constantly called a loser, which is a term that fits the majority of the characters in this rather grim, dark and depressing film.

For me the greatest thing here are the performances with Newman easily leading the way. It's easy to see why this is the film that turned Newman into a superstar. Up until this point he had played a fair share of troubled rebels but everything in him just came together for this role. He's certainly very believable as this young guy who can't seem to stay out of his own way when it comes to trouble. This is a very troubled character and the actor perfectly nails every aspect of it. Gleason will always be known as a comedic actor but he could nail drama when he needed and this is the perfect example. It certainly doesn't hurt that the two actors were also great pool players and this brings a real nature to the film.

Laurie is rather heart-breaking in her role as the drunk and then you've got Scott playing one of the biggest snakes in film history. There's no question that his Burt character is one of the great villains in film history. Myron McCormick is excellent in his small role and then you've got a young Murray Hamilton. THE HUSTLER also benefits from some wonderful cinematography that perfectly captures this pool world. I mean, has there ever been a better example of why B&W is so great? Add in the terrific score and you've really got something special.

THE HUSTLER is a classic film that constantly gets better each time you view it.

THE HUSTLER is a sport drama about a bitter life and an unscrupulous competition. Film is based on Walter Tevis novel of the same name.

A small-time pool hustler travels cross-country with his partner and earns, on fraud, some money. His attitude and his big mouth forcing him to challenge the legendary player "Minnesota Fats". A challenger and legend finally meet each other. Straight pool duel can begin. Their game attracts the attention of a professional gambler. The young challenger has, despite a noticeable talent, lost the match. He leaves his partner and he meets, at the local bus terminal, a girl, who is an alcoholic supported by her father, attends college part-time, and walks with a limp. They start a strange relationship. However, the pool hustler wants again to challenge a famous rival. His talent does not seem sufficient, he needs a strong character...

A restless, irritable and evil protagonists are perfectly integrated into a dark atmosphere. Their greed for a fame and money has ruled out any form of love and nobility in this film. The plot is brisk and exciting. Every word or move is full of passion and has its price.

Paul Newman as Eddie Felson is a passionate and violent pool hustler. The protagonist, who is, at one point, on the top of his life goal, and then drops down until he touches the bottom. He was intoxicated with his ambition. The loss of a loved person and a bitter life knowledge are his brutal sobering. Mr. Newman has offered a quite good performance. Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard is his girlfriend, who has lost in her unclear past. However, when Eddie comes into her life, she revives her pathetic reality. She is a dominant character in one part of the film, in which she emphasizes their tragic fate. George C. Scott as Bert Gordon is an antagonist on duty. He is an evil which trades with feelings and souls. His performance is very convincing. Jackie Gleason (Minnesota Fats) is a cool as a legendary player. However, he has become a prisoner of his talent and money.

Maybe this movie is a strong projection of the real world, which is complemented with a cynical reviews and a tragic-ironic end. The protagonists have condemned themselves to a bitter taste of life.

Character, class, love, greed, are all examined under the glaring light hanging over the pool table in a movie about everything but pool. Classic photography, editing, and performances by Paul Newman (self destructive Fast Eddie), Jackie Gleason (Minnesota Fats, the man to beat with the Cheshire Cat grin of knowledge), Piper Laurie (the wary walking wounded) and George C. Scott (brutal capitalist with the watchful eye and cutting commentary). They just don't make em like that anymore. Perfect from start to finish.

People more eloquent than I have made some recent and perceptive comments about this film, so I can only echo some of what has been said...

I enjoyed the stark and crisp black and white cinematography. And enjoyed Newman's moving portrayal of the talented, but undisciplined, Eddie.

Eddie's romance with Sarah was a weak link in this film, and the middle part of the movie dragged as a result. The classic Minnesota Fats scenes, on the other hand, sandwiched the romance and really held my interest and (in my humble opinion) were much more central to the overall story.

(This movie, along with Hombre and The Verdict, is part of the Paul Newman Collection DVD set)

"The Hustler" was criticized by Variety when it came out for being too realistic, making it boring. If that was true at the time (and judging from the Oscar nominations, I would have some doubts), it's what makes it endure so well. This movie is smooth, nothing seems dated. The acting isn't theatrical or too "Method," there are no big moments where someone flips out. Made today, this movie would be just as good, although I wonder if someone would have the patience just to let things be, the way Rossen does here.

The opening sets the tone: the opening music behind the freeze-frame credits. The score by Kenyon Hopkins, who hasn't done much more than "12 Angry Men," has a stressed yet sleepy, jazzy style and a minimal quality. The movie is similar. It's quiet and forceful. The actors make use of the lack of words, and make the best of the words when they have them ("You owe me money!").

Of course, it doesn't hurt that all four of the main characters are terrific. It's where Newman, in one of his greatest anti-establishment roles, became a truly respected actor and not just someone from the Actors Studio who looked good in an undershirt (he still does). He's like a more human Marlon Brando -- not as volcanic, but more realistic.

For the supporting players, Scott, as the man who wants a piece of Fast Eddie Felson (Newman), the hot new kid, is at his very best (early in the film he makes moving a chair seem utterly compelling). Gleason, as the legendary Minnesota Fats, has few words (and making appearances only at the opening and closing, his performance is almost like an extended cameo) but that makes him all the more memorable. He doesn't need to talk -- this guy's got tenure (he's also the film's heart and soul). Piper Laurie, as Sarah, Eddie's girl, is partly a mystery. She's an alcoholic and she has some troubles, but we don't know much else about her. Her interactions with Newman are superb and their relationship grows believably; by the end of the movie (well, not quite the end, I guess), they're nowhere near where they began.

In the first pool game, we can't help but smile when we look at Newman. He talks tough and because of it we expect him to lose. Throughout the film he has some looks of disappointment that are genuine and perfectly timed.

Eddie's partner, Charlie, adds something to the film, as well. We don't know exactly how to feel about him. Does he think of Eddie as a son or as someone to generate money? He's getting old and would like some financial security, but he's not a bad guy. He's not vicious the way Scott is. There is a really small cast at work here. The only other person I feel I should mention is James Findley, the rich Kentucky billiards player that Eddie goes to beat. He plays his character as an effeminate southerner and it worked well. He's an elegant (probably gay) man that gives the film a little something else.

Some of the personal moments between Newman and Laurie get longish, but with the appearances of Scott, the movie is immediately recharged. And sometimes it's enough to simply watch Newman -- the man couldn't look bad if he tried (the dinner scene - my God).

I don't know much abut pool or billiards, but through and through this movie had me convinced. The pool shots are handled well, and I liked that we are shown more the players' technique and their face as they shoot, rather than the trick shots themselves.

This is a serious movie -- for anyone who loved the poker scene in "The Sting" (which I see as a pleasant, but over-valued, crowd-pleasing entertainment that required Newman to do little more than strip down to his natural charm), this offers a more honest take. The hustles here aren't about a smile and a giggle, they actually mean something. The stakes are big here -- it's not just the money Eddie's playing for.

"The Hustler" is a hardboiled American classic and one to see in widescreen -- it will suffer on TV. If you're looking for a classic with some class -- business as usual -- here she is. "That's the way it's done."

****

First of all, I really like Paul Newman, and for that alone i really wanted to be in love with this movie. I have just finished watching this movie for the second time. The first time I watched it I liked it, but I didn't quite get it. Then I watched it again, and once more, something seemed off.

The movie is very, very slow, which is not necessarily a bad thing in a movie, but in this case it is. I get it that this was intentional, to build the characters correctly, and it succeeds in doing that, but after a while of long, drawn-out scenes in which nothing really happens, I started to lose a little bit of patience. However, this is balanced out by the great acting of Paul Newman as the main character Fast Eddie, and everyone surrounding him is great too, especially Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats (I wish we could have seen more of him), but I quickly forgot about the acting and caught myself desperate for some of the scenes to end.

All in all, neither the great acting nor the extremely stylish scenes are enough to make this a great movie. If it was more straight to the point, it would have been an almost perfect movie.

Still, a must watch, and I understand why so many people love it. I wish I did.

Possible minor spoilers.

'The Hustler' is a great movie that involves the game of pool. Although this is important it is not really about the game. It is more about the life around it, Fast Eddie Felson's life in particular. Paul Newman plays this man in a terrific way. Eddie is a great pool player, he could be the best, if only he had more character. This is what Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) tells him. It is true. Eddie is a self-destructive man. He drinks too much and he does not know when to stop. At one point early in the movie he is playing the man who is considered the best of the country, Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason), and he has won 18.000 dollars but he gets too drunk and loses everything.

(Minor spoilers.) Then he meets a girl Sarah (Laurie Piper) who, like him, drinks too much. They start living together and it seems that Eddie is changing, but we suspects he is always thinking about playing Minnesota Fats again. Eddie gets in some trouble, his thumbs are broken, and after this he decides that he needs Bert Gordon to get back on track again. Gordon made him an offer before his thumbs were broken which seemed pretty unfair but now Eddie thinks he has no choice. He has the woman he loves on one side, who could get him out of trouble, and the game of pool and his desire to be the best on the other. What will happen is for you to see.

The interesting story about this self-destructive man is also about the self-destructive woman and the events around her are almost inevitable. The hero is a hero in most ways, but it is a hero who must face his weaknesses instead of discovering his strong points. This kind of hero is rare these days. Paul Newman shows us why he became such a great star with this memorable role.

Other things are very good too here. Although the game is never explained it is fun to watch every shot, some of them almost impossible. The black and white cinematography looks great. Fast Eddie Felson would return in Martin Scorsese's 'The Color of Money', a lesser film in some points but very good as well.

"We have a contract of depravity. All we have to do is pull the blinds down."

It's pretty cool when actors can actually play a sport or game really well, and in this case, Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason look fantastic playing pool as "Fast Eddie" Felson and Minnesota Fats. Fats has established himself as the best player in America when Fast Eddie approaches him in the opening scene, and it's a long, drawn-out duel through the night ensues, the outcome of which you can probably guess. Down but not completely out, Fast Eddie then meets a woman (Piper Laurie) who is a part-time college student, part-time aspiring writer, and full-time alcoholic.

The film's transition to their relationship is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Piper Laurie is mesmerizing and turns in a brilliant performance. She plays her part so well she actually seems intoxicated in one of her early scenes, and her chemistry with Newman is fantastic, their kisses passionate whether drunken or sober. The middle section of the film also allows us the viewer to sink into the squalor of Fast Eddie's life. He's addicted to booze, addicted to gambling, and addicted to making a name for himself, the combination of which means he never knows when to quit. Newman is, as always, effortless and wonderful here. Unfortunately, the pacing to the film in this middle section isn't as good as it could have been, especially for a 134 minute overall runtime.

George C. Scott plays a "manager"/gambler/gangster who demands a rather outrageous 75% cut of Eddie's winnings to connect him properly to the right kinds of games, the mirror opposite of the 25% his first handler was pocketing (Myron McCormick). The threat if he doesn't accept is that he might get roughed up, and there is as scene where Eddie is indeed maimed that's pretty frightening. This along with all the drinking and addiction gives the film a feeling of griminess, and indeed there is no grand redemption or happy ending to the love story. There is a depressing feeling that even if you're great at what you do, cutthroat businessmen will always in the end be in control, and the best you can do for yourself is to understand that, and to have a degree of control over yourself. It seems to me that the film is thus an even earlier example of the "New Hollywood" style filmmaking than Bonnie and Clyde, which would appear six years later. Overall, watch it for the performances and the pool play, don't watch it to feel happy.

This was a famous movie in its day and one I have remembered well since I first saw it. Then I viewed it on TV once or twice in the '70s and it was still enjoyable. For that, it gets points. However, looking at the film in 1999 after many years without seeing it, it didn't hold the fascination anymore. In fact, it was downright unpleasant to watch, too sleazy an atmosphere for me.

The main characters, except for Jackie Gleason as "Minnesota Fats," are all unlikable people. Gleason was fascinating but Paul Newman ("Fast Eddie"), the supposed "hero" of the film, was an arrogant punk; Piper Laurie was a drunk with an irritatingly horrible voice, and George C. Scott was a crude low-life.

As for the billiards angle of the story, that was very good. However, the sordidness of the romance, which was not a pretty thing to see, ruined the film for me. This is simply too much of a downer. Who wants to get depressed?