1961 Directed by Robert Rossen
Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.
Suurkaupungin hait, Lo Spaccone, Hajen, Играчът на билярд, Robert Rossen's The Hustler, بیلیارد باز, El buscavidas, L'arnaqueur, Desafio à Corrupção, El audaz, 허슬러, Haie der Großstadt
Its Paul Newman guys, its Paul newman., do you need a longer review, I mean come on, its Paul Newman.
Do you like to gamble, Eddie? Gamble money on pool games?
-Minnesota Fats
An incredible film about a self-defeating man that is already the "best" as far as talent is concerned, but he's still a loser because he's a deeply flawed human being with no character. He's all ego and doesn't understand what winning is if it doesn't involve the humiliation of his opponent. It's that fact that leaves him vulnerable to smarter opponents and a pathetic mess when they are done with him.
Fast Eddie Felson is that man, one of the truly great American film characters and he is portrayed by Paul Newman in one of THE great American performances. This is now my earliest Newman film and…
I think I just got hustled ... since I came in expecting plenty of high-stakes pool action, but mostly got a personal melodrama about addiction and personal survival.
"You make shots that nobody's ever made before. I can play that game the way... NOBODY'S ever played it before ... You're not a loser, Eddie, you're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything."
I came into this backward, having really enjoyed Martin Scorsese's 'The Color of Money'. But its predecessor The Hustler, which is all about a young vulnerable Fast Eddie, is a whole other game entirely. The first 30 minutes sucked me in right away as we see Eddie played by Paul Newman gear up…
Cinematic Time Capsule
1961 Marathon - Film #49
”Eddie, you’re a born loser.”
I came to play pool, Fats.
How should I play this one? Play it safe? Take my time and write a mediative 500 word essay on each and every reason of why I love this film? That’s what they always told me to do….
”Well, here we go, fast and loose!”
1 Film - 9 Nominations
2 Wins - Art Direction and cinematography
3 Nominations - Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Writing
4 Acting Nods - Newman, Gleason, Piper & the phenomenal George C. Scott
”I don’t rattle kid… just for that I’m gonna beat ya flat!”
Quite simply one of the greatest stories of self-destruction there ever…
This is a cruel movie. Piper Laurie is a gaping wound on one bum leg, and Paul Newman is pride run amok... 18K down the drain and nary a lesson learned. George C. Scott is the heart of this film, though, and it’s black, and it’s rotten. He takes Piper Laurie to pieces, and it’s not a fair fight.
Bert Gordon is the kind of villain that ruins real lives, but maybe he’s what Fast Eddie needed.
#jackiegleasonsgotmadswagger
Robert Rossen was a director with very short resume who struck early success with All the Kings Men, but waited twelve long years to repeat that success. That film was The Hustler, starring Paul Newman as billiard beast ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson.
The film follows the hotheaded Felson as he frequently gets in his own way trying to find some level of prosperity utilizing his talents. His hubris and machismo lead him to challenge the great pool player Minnesota Fats, played by a confident and charming Jackie Gleason, to a game of high stakes pool. This does not end well for Felson, and as he finds bottom in both his profession and his codependent relationship (Piper Laurie), Fast Eddie begins the…
In an escalation of tension, Eddie, a young and arrogant pool champion, engages with the unbeatable Minnesota Fats in a competition where the stakes go far beyond the professional reputation of both: the real theme around which The Hustler revolves, in fact, is the struggle that each man must face in order to fulfill himself as a person. Shot flawlessly by Robert Rossen, in a dazzling black and white that well photographs the atmosphere full of smoke and alcohol of the pool rooms, the film hides among the billiard tables a very bitter existential parable, in which lives perpetually poised between obsession and precariousness, hope and disillusionment, greed and loneliness, symbolize the dark side of the American dream. Magnificently supported…
Lots you can say about Newman and Scott here but I want to draw attention to Jackie Gleason, who forges a complex and nuanced character out of just a few scenes and a little bit of dialogue.
Paul Newman was one of the coolest men to ever walk this earth. He had so much class, charisma and charm.
spent half the time thinking about how much money i could have won if only i put 100 bucks on phil mickelson winning the pga championship... so whatever moral i was supposed to take away from this was lost on me. money mindset over everything, baby.
