The Hustler

No notes. No nitpicks. None are possible. I was not prepared for how bold this movie is. The Hustler presents itself as this simple story of a young hotshot looking to take down a legend, but it is so much more than that, and there is so much to love and appreciate about it in the process I love the way that Jackie Gleason's Minnesota Fats is portrayed as the rival of Paul Newman's Fast Eddie, but he's never positioned as an antagonist. We learn nothing about Fats as a character, other than that he is almost supernaturally composed at all times. He doesn't get angry, he doesn't bluster, and he doesn't boast. He is so calm, one wonders if someone needs to check his neck for a pulse. That's because, even though The Hustler is about Fast Eddie, the story is not told through his eyes. Fats is an wily veteran, sure, but he is not some cigar-chomping jerk. He is a man, and for what little screen time he has, he has shocking depth. He is the antithesis of Fast Eddie's bravado and swagger because he's been around the block. He doesn't need to be cocky. It is Fast Eddie's job to step to him and play his game, not the other way around. I love how slowly George C. Scott's Bert evolves, first as a lurking presence, betting on games, and then asserting his presence when it benefits him. Bert might be a bit more of an antagonist, but he's not strictly evil, and he's surprisingly honest. Amoral, mercenary, and cynical, absolutely. When he propositions Eddie to be his sponsor, Bert makes it clear it's an investment. He sees he can make a lot of money off Eddie, and he does not hide that that is the extent of the relationship. Bert's role in the story is the agent of chaos that causes Eddie to evolve, and he does that, even if not according to plan, but it's more than that: Bert also exists to show Eddie how hollow the life of a hustler can be, that it ends in loneliness, that every victory on the felt is hollow because there's always another game to be played. I love the tragic romance between Eddie and Sarah. Both are fully realized characters, flawed down to the core because of something missing in both their souls. For Sarah, abandonment from her rich father (and a steady stipend as an apology) allows her to drift aimlessly through life, drinking and going to college as a way to kill time. For Eddie, it's all about slaying the next dragon on the table. These two broken people collide, and make each other the worse for it, because their flaws prevent them from seeing past that next game, or that next swig of whiskey. They can't find happiness because they can't imagine being happy, and rather than saving each other, they only bring each other misery, and while they both eventually learn that lesson, it is far too late to bring them any joy. I love everything about this movie. The boldness of the ending, that getting what you think you want at the cost of what you needed isn't worth it. That knowing your value is about what's inside, not what is dictated to you from outside. That the only way to not live your life properly is to exist without direction. That winning and victory aren't the same thing. I love how the score is used selectively, knowing when to give a situation some seasoning, but also knowing how to let the moment breathe. The choice of black and white gives the movie so much soul; it fits the smoky pool halls, of course, but it also gives the moments in restaurants and apartments a haunted, noir-like feeling. I love how the movie gives you the showdown right away, then scales back and gives you a reason to want to see a rematch. I love this movie. And you will too.