The Hustler (1961)

The Worst Film Ever

People are voting emotionally.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

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.

Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) and Charlie Burns (Myron McCormick) are two relatively successful pool hustlers. Felson walks into one pool hall and proudly claims that no-one will play him because no-one can beat him. When Felson discovers that the pool hall he's stepped into is the place where regular pool shark Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) spends his evenings, Felson can't resist the opportunity to prove to everyone that he is the best and is capable of beating the best. However, Felson is outclassed by Fats which sets off a spiral of events in Felson's life which results in Felson losing control.When watching The Hustler today and watching Newman's performance I couldn't help but be reminded of Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins. Higgins was one of the pioneers of British Snooker and was one of the people responsible for making the game of Snooker popular and bringing the sport to a wider audience. Like Felson, Higgins was a flamboyant character who mostly entertained the masses whenever he was in front of a crowd or on the big screen. Sadly, Higgins, like Felson, had a very destructive personality, lacked self-control and drank heavily which ultimately proved to be his undoing. For me having a real person's life mirroring that of Felson's made the film feel all the more raw, gritty, believable and actually quite sad at times.Part of the reason that this film succeeds is Newman himself and of all the films I've seen him in this is easily his best performance. He is the heart and soul of the film and the downward spiral that we see him on later in the film is heart-breaking to watch. Piper Laurie is also excellent in support and is almost as good as Newman but there's no mistaking that this is Newman's film and he's able to carry it with aplomb. Gleason is also excellent in the brief screen time that he was given. As much as I would have liked to have seen more of him in the film I can understand why he was only featured at the beginning and the end.Structurally the film is a little uneven whereby the first 20 minutes or so fly by at break neck speed - up until Felson's defeat to Minnesota Fats. The pace slackens slightly when Felson meets Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie). The melodrama here does mean the film suffers slightly only because the start of the film is so fast-paced - although the melodrama is much better here than melodrama we see in other films because of the relationship that exists between Felson and Packard. Giving the couple a relationship that exists more out of co-dependency than anything else still makes this aspect of the story quite interesting.The final third of the film comprises of Felson being approached by Bert Gordon (George C Scott) who tells Felson that he'll act as a financial backer to enable him to take on Minnesota Fats. Like Fats and Felson, Gordon is a Shark but not in the same sense. Felson is practically penniless at this point which is something that Gordon exploits for his own financial gain. Lured by the prospect of making money and having another shot at Fats, Felson once again becomes blinded by the very things that got him into trouble in the first place (not knowing when to quit). The real tragedy here is that Sarah can see Gordon for what he is, but Felson cannot and it's this inability for Felson to step back and see the bigger picture that ultimately results in Sarah taking her own life. It's only at this point that Felson starts to put things into perspective and see things in a different light.Cue (no pun intended) the action and the final match between Fats and Felson. This is the moment that we've all been waiting for and whilst some may find it disappointing that the match between them was short and sweet I think this fitted better with the narrative. I got the feeling that Felson faced off against Fats not just to show that he could beat him, but to prove that he could do it on his own. Felson's constant retorts to Gordon clearly prove this point. I also felt that the Felson that faced Fats at the end of the film was very different to the Felson that faced him at the start of the film. He still had the bravado but more importantly had much more self-control (Fats conceding and Felson walking away at the end clearly proved that Felson was a different person by the end of the film). It also showed that a mutual respect existed between the two men which probably didn't exist at the start.The Hustler is a fantastic film and is certainly one of the finest character studies that I've seen.

You get a pretty good idea where "The Hustler" will lead you after witnessing Paul Newman's utter defeat at the hands of pool legend Jackie Gleason (man, it's cool to watch him shoot). It's such a marathon contest that the effects are devastating. And that's only in the first 40 minutes or so, and the depths that Newman has to go to to overcome his personal demons and experience rebirth are gut-wrenching. I guess it'd qualify as spoilers to say he comes back and wins, but not the way you'd think.This is a fantastic movie - about character, not really pool - and it boasts some amazing talent. Newman, sure, but George C. Scott's a magnetic presence in an unscrupulous role. and Piper Laurie is the painful reminder of the bitter cynical undercurrent flowing beneath all of it.Outstanding.9/10