Could be much better but Newman is still brilliant!

Fast Eddie Felson, Hustler.

Very dramatic touch to the darker side of human nature in gambling. The middle third of the movie slowed the pace but was necessary to fuel the ending.

Great acting by Scott and Newman and a good story, but the pacing is too slow in many parts.

Great idea for a movie, but somewhat slow. Great performances by Newman and George C. Scott.

Not a classic. It tries too hard. Still, Newman, Scott, Laurie and Gleason are all very, very good.

311

Riveting melodrama. Rossen creates a vivid, seedy world of pool halls, flophouses, cons, and losers, and Newman brings authority to the part of Fast Eddie Felson (a role he reprised in _The Color of Money_). His gripping work is supported by admirable turns from Laurie as his alcoholic lover, Scott as a diabolical promoter, and Gleason as pool legend Minnesota Fats.

Come on, it's Paul Newman.

One of the coolest movies ever made. The entire cast is unbelievably good throughout.

It's an incredibly effective look into the mindset of winning at any cost. Newman, Scott and Laurie are all excellent. The music and cinematography really accentuate the despairing aura of the film.

An incredibly bleak film almost to the point of exhaustion, it's rare to find a Hollywood film so genuinely downbeat. Paul Newman is excellent as the main character, who is unlikeable yet the film is so well scripted that you're still hoping he'll make it back on his feet even as you're also getting frustrated with his decisions or annoyed by his treatment of his girlfriend (and you want him to see his mistakes in these regards too). The characterisations all have so much depth to them.

Pure perfection.

All of the characters in this film feel so much more real than I expected for a movie of this type. I was really expecting a rise-to-the-top story with a big exciting final showdown and a happy ending. Boy was I wrong. The movie was much more dark and intelligent than that. The acting, especially by Newman, was about as perfect as it gets. One complaint: maybe I'm thick, but I found the dynamic between the three main characters sort of confusing in the last twenty minutes.