The Hustler (1961)

Sadly Over-hyped

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Hustler is such a solid movie that in which i have trouble seeing any weakness in conventional cinema rating aspects ( Acting, screenplay, cinematography, music etc ) resulting in a near flawless film that is further enhanced by its amazing casting.What could have been a movie about merely playing pool has turned into a study on 'character' and capitalism. 'Fast' Eddie Felson ( Paul Newman ) seems to hopelessly want to be the best, and doesn't know when to quit even when ahead a significant amount, because he needs to have the satisfaction in his mind of beating Minnesota Fats ( Jackie Gleason ) until he quits. Charlie ( Myron McCormick ), his partner, symbolizes the sane and logical part of Eddie, that one should quit when ahead, and not continue to lose it all again. When Eddie eventually dismisses Charlie, his last hold on controlling his self destructive nature disappears, and it is only later when met with Bert Gordon ( George C. Scott ) that this 'hold' returns to Eddie. It is a great character study on how Eddie, the arrogant talented 'born loser' turns into the epitome of a 'winner' through a long series of relatable and emotional events that occur. Newman is simply incredible as usual, and he seems to understand his character like no other. His entire monologue about being called a born loser with Sarah, his fantastic facial acting, his desperate drunken mannerisms, it all sums up in that he IS basically Eddie Felson. Jackie Gleason is great as Minnesota Fats, and Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard. But apart from Newman the other true star has to be George C. Scott, whose character symbolizes greed as the true capitalist that seeks only money and doesn't seem to care about anything at all along the way. ( As Eddie says to him, 'You're dead inside' ) Scott's energetic acting, head up tilting mannerisms to show how much above everyone else he feels he is, fast manner of speaking and this arrogant kind of self control result in a phenomenal performance and everytime these actors come on the screen it results in fantastic scenes.The acting is further enhanced by a fantastic screenplay so the dialogue said by these great actors never go to waste. As stated before the dialogue between Eddie & Sarah is so key to understanding his character perfectly for the audience, and it delivered in such an absorbing way by Newman. The dialogue in the final scene, and generally any scene in which Newman and Scott speak to eachother. The cinematography is world class and captures the 60s feel of the film like no other, which is also due to the fantastic Jazz score by Kenyon Hopkins. The pool games themselves are set up great with a lot of innovative shots of the audience's reactions pictured over the pool shots themselves, and a lot of the shots were apparantly made by Gleason and Newman themselves, with the occasional intervention of Willie Mosconi ( Reportedly one of the greatest pool players of all time ). It all results in a masterpiece of character development, that seems to be near flawless and covers all the angles of the aspects that make a movie great.

The Hustler (1961) is a black and white Drama/Sports film about a rookie pool player who competes in a single-high stake match against a professional player with a long time winning streak. This movie is enjoyable regardless of whether or not you are a pool player. The acting is great and the mysterious music puts you on edge and makes you excited.I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys classic dramas. The cinematography, dialogue, and plot are all excellent and executed properly. In the scene where they first play pool together, the music starts off slowly at a low tempo and increases in tempo and volume as the game gets closer and closer to finishing.This film has it all- romance, a unique plot, gorgeous costumes, great music and amazing acting. Eddie Felson has the talent. He is an excellent pool player which is proved by how many games he wins. But, talent isn't all that it takes to make it big at pool. Does Eddie Felson have what it takes to be successful?

Overrated, yes, when I read these reviews. Sure, there are lot's of good moments. But too much seems just hackneyed and frankly there is a lot of scenes that are just unintentionally comical when you watch them today. I am a great fan of older movies, but this is predictable melodrama most of the time. I guess this is what a "deep" movie looks like to people who need to have it all spelled out for them in such a simple way that there is no chance to miss the point. The way the female lead is treated in the film by the protagonists and the scriptwriter is interesting. We can see that feminism has after all, thank God, left its mark on us and our societies. A bit like watching Mad Men. And please, stop calling this "film noir". It's not. Well, it is not a bad movie, as a period piece, and with it's original milieu choices the film has a lot going for it. Kind of an earlier Fat City type of movie. And in it's context of time, compared to many other US-films of the period, it probably is a masterpiece after all. But not by today's standards. Seriously.

"The Hustler" is a great example of a film with a relatively simple plot, simple sets, not a lot of action and yet it's a great film nonetheless. Why is it great? The acting, writing and direction are simply superb and are great examples to folks in the field. So, without glitz, special effects and huge casts, you can STILL make a terrific film.The story is simple. Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) is a pool hustler. But he wants to be more--he wants to be the best there is. The best, it seems, is Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) and Eddie will do almost anything to beat Fats. It's a mania...one that dogs him through most of the film.In addition to amazing performances by Newman and Gleason, the film features particularly strong supporting performances by George C. Scott and Piper Laurie. The bottom line is that these four did a terrific job--thanks in no small part to a wonderfully written script and excellent direction. See this film.