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Hard Eight

Hard Eight

1996
Drama
Suspense/Thriller
1h 41m
Sydney (Hall) is a poker-faced professional gambler with a soft heart for a hard luck story. He plays guardian angel to unlucky John (Reilly) and a hooker, Clementine (Paltrow), whom he grows to love like family. When John's and Clementine's honeymoon night leads to a disastrous hostage situation, Sydney takes care of it, as usual. But when slick casino pro Jimmy (Jackson) threatens to reveal a secret from Sydney's past that could destroy his relationship with the newlyweds, Sydney decides to hedge his bets and not leave anything to chance. (Sony)
Your probable score
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Hard Eight

1996
Drama
Suspense/Thriller
1h 41m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 56.64% from 1735 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1735)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 28 Nov 2016
7
22nd
Need to revisit after Master and IV, but I think it's the intimate scale of this film that makes is meandering nature more acceptable. From the beginning, we get that we're following this mixture of the Midnight Run Sydney character and Bob Le Flambeur and PTA's more interested in just visiting that world. A similar father/son dynamic to The Master's Freddie/Master dynamic, but more subdued. This feels more genuine to PTA, but maybe it is just a piece of its time and PTA has moved on.
Rated 20 Jan 2014
79
53rd
the characters are interesting and realistic; the story is pretty captivating and at times comedic
Rated 16 May 2020
90
67th
Not everyone gets a calling card this good.
Rated 29 Sep 2021
65
40th
Initially very exciting when it seems like some modern day Biblical parabole/fable of lost innocence (Baker Hall is blatantly Satan in this movie), but as soon as the should-be shocks hit they weakly ripple and fade. The flickering neon delirium and crammed casinos of PTA's Reno provide as good a "character" of neo noir as any equally captivating performance here, and his patience with the camera lets you take in every noxious whiff, but the script kneecaps substance out from under style.
Rated 08 Aug 2010
80
52nd
Very, very interesting. Philip Baker Hall is fantastic in his role as Sydney. The direction is great. But something just didn't sit right with me. I liked it, but didn't love it.

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