"You're not a loser Eddie, you're a winner"

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2016)

Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) and Charlie Burns (Myron McCormick) are two relatively successful pool hustlers. Felson walks into one pool hall and proudly claims that no-one will play him because no-one can beat him. When Felson discovers that the pool hall he's stepped into is the place where regular pool shark Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) spends his evenings, Felson can't resist the opportunity to prove to everyone that he is the best and is capable of beating the best. However, Felson is outclassed by Fats which sets off a spiral of events in Felson's life which results in Felson losing control.
When watching The Hustler today and watching Newman's performance I couldn't help but be reminded of Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins. Higgins was one of the pioneers of British Snooker and was one of the people responsible for making the game of Snooker popular and bringing the sport to a wider audience. Like Felson, Higgins was a flamboyant character who mostly entertained the masses whenever he was in front of a crowd or on the big screen. Sadly, Higgins, like Felson, had a very destructive personality, lacked self-control and drank heavily which ultimately proved to be his undoing. For me having a real person's life mirroring that of Felson's made the film feel all the more raw, gritty, believable and actually quite sad at times.
Part of the reason that this film succeeds is Newman himself and of all the films I've seen him in this is easily his best performance. He is the heart and soul of the film and the downward spiral that we see him on later in the film is heart-breaking to watch. Piper Laurie is also excellent in support and is almost as good as Newman but there's no mistaking that this is Newman's film and he's able to carry it with aplomb. Gleason is also excellent in the brief screen time that he was given. As much as I would have liked to have seen more of him in the film I can understand why he was only featured at the beginning and the end.
Structurally the film is a little uneven whereby the first 20 minutes or so fly by at break neck speed - up until Felson's defeat to Minnesota Fats. The pace slackens slightly when Felson meets Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie). The melodrama here does mean the film suffers slightly only because the start of the film is so fast-paced - although the melodrama is much better here than melodrama we see in other films because of the relationship that exists between Felson and Packard. Giving the couple a relationship that exists more out of co-dependency than anything else still makes this aspect of the story quite interesting.
The final third of the film comprises of Felson being approached by Bert Gordon (George C Scott) who tells Felson that he'll act as a financial backer to enable him to take on Minnesota Fats. Like Fats and Felson, Gordon is a Shark but not in the same sense. Felson is practically penniless at this point which is something that Gordon exploits for his own financial gain. Lured by the prospect of making money and having another shot at Fats, Felson once again becomes blinded by the very things that got him into trouble in the first place (not knowing when to quit). The real tragedy here is that Sarah can see Gordon for what he is, but Felson cannot and it's this inability for Felson to step back and see the bigger picture that ultimately results in Sarah taking her own life. It's only at this point that Felson starts to put things into perspective and see things in a different light.
Cue (no pun intended) the action and the final match between Fats and Felson. This is the moment that we've all been waiting for and whilst some may find it disappointing that the match between them was short and sweet I think this fitted better with the narrative. I got the feeling that Felson faced off against Fats not just to show that he could beat him, but to prove that he could do it on his own. Felson's constant retorts to Gordon clearly prove this point. I also felt that the Felson that faced Fats at the end of the film was very different to the Felson that faced him at the start of the film. He still had the bravado but more importantly had much more self-control (Fats conceding and Felson walking away at the end clearly proved that Felson was a different person by the end of the film). It also showed that a mutual respect existed between the two men which probably didn't exist at the start.
The Hustler is a fantastic film and is certainly one of the finest character studies that I've seen.