188. The Hustler

The Hustler (1961)

Director: Robert Rossen

Starring: Paul Newman

George C. Scott

Myron McCormick

Piper Laurie

and Jackie Gleason

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 9

"You can't see it, can you Charlie? I mean, you've never been able to see it. I came after him. And I'm gonna get him. I'm going with him all the way. The pool game is not over until Minnesota Fats says it's over. Is it over Fats?"

"Fast Eddie" Felson (Paul Newman) is one of the best pool players in the country, with one giant ego to match. Along with his partner Charlie Burns (Myron McCormick), the two travel around pool halls and hustle their way into thousands of dollars. No longer content with just hustling for money, Eddie decides to take his talents and match them up against the best of the best. Eddie challenges Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) at Fats' home pool room. The two fall into a marathon forty hour pool match. At one point Eddie is up on Fats by $11,000, but refuses to quit until Fats says that they are done. Many drinks later, Eddie finds himself with only two hundred dollars and horribly drunk. Eddie leaves the pool room defeated and heads back to his motel room, where he leaves half of the two hundred dollars with Charlie.

Eddie meets Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie) at the bus station and the two soon seem to find a mutual attraction. It isn't too long until Eddie finds himself living with Sarah in her apartment. Charlie attempts to reconcile with Eddie, but is turned away when Eddie realizes that Charlie kept a percentage of the money from the match with Minnesota Fats. Charlie can see that Eddie's only desire is a rematch with Fats, and that he will stop at nothing in his path. Eddie soon forms a dangerous partnership with Bert Gordon (George C. Scott), who offers to help Eddie collect enough money for his rematch with Fats. Soon Eddie realizes that the road back to the rematch with Fats could come with great consequences.

There is much to love with The Hustler, most notably for myself being the first encounter between Minnesota Fats and Fast Eddie. This scene stands as my favorite of the film, and is by far one of my favorite showdowns in the history of film. What you have in this scene is two men not only playing against each other in a game of pool, but two men locked in a virtual stand-off of stamina and mental superiority. It is this scene that sets the film's tone and only builds the anticipation for the inevitable rematch. Most films would kill for a scene like this one, let alone in the first ten minutes.

The performances in The Hustler are all excellent, but Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats is in a class all his own. He may only be in the film for two short scenes, but his larger than life presence instantly grabs your attention and gains your respect. For most, Gleason was seen as the comedic driving force in the television program The Honeymooners. His dark turn in The Hustler added a dimension to the actor that many, myself included, had no idea existed. His movements are perfectly timed, with each word and phrase purposely placed. I've seen this film numerous times, and his performance is always what resonates the most after the credits have rolled.

This film for me is really about growth and maturity. Early in the film, Fast Eddie is an arrogant young man who really only seems to care about his money and being top dog. As the film progresses, we watch Eddie mold and grow from cocky and self indulgent to calmly confident and patient. The film uses tragic events very effectively to really define the qualities of Eddie at the film's finale. His rough road throughout the film leads him to this point, but stands as an amazing example of character progression.

When great sports films are mentioned The Hustler is rarely left out of the conversation. After watching this film again, it's quite obvious to see why. In the sports genre we tend to find favor with the lovable loser or underdog. Paul Newman does an amazing job in delivering us one in "Fast Eddie". With every new new revelation in his life, we find ourselves pulling for him more. It's the classic element to a film of it's kind, but structured much better than most in this film. Overall, The Hustler stands as not only an amazing film about an often overlooked sport, but a story about the events and decisions in life that define us.

Additional Material: Even though Paul Newman won an Oscar for 1986's Martin Scorsese directed The Color of Money, it's often overlooked. The film marks the return of Fast Eddie as he mentors young up and coming pool player Vincent Lauria played by Tom Cruise and is an excellent film in it's own right.