One of the all-time great American films

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2006)

The Hustler is one of those rare films that has been so well crafted that it is lauded by both critics and savvy audiences alike as a benchmark film, the quintessential movie about pool, its players and hustlers, and the obsession and drive involved with wanting to be the greatest. What makes a movie great is when all the elements come together so beautifully, from the casting, acting, directing, cinematography, editing, etc., that it works virtually flawlessly both as a whole and as individual elements. The Hustler is one of those films. You could argue how you could have made it differently but you would be extremely hard pressed (or delusional) to claim you could have made it better. As anyone who has seriously acted or otherwise participated in a film or play will tell you, once enough of the right elements have come into play, the film or play will take on a life of its own and all the strengths will make each other stronger and better, the rare phenomenon of a group of individuals working on the highest common denominator, as opposed to the too frequent degenerating into the lowest common denominator.
The casting is great with not a single weak performance anywhere from a young Paul Newman when he was at the peak of his craft, down to Jake LaMotta (the real "Raging Bull") who plays a bit part as a bartender. The acting is so often brilliantly understated you might think you are watching a documentary, especially since the film is shot in stark black and white. The unflinchingly honest realism is one of the underlying elements that gives this film such great life. None of the characters or situations are glamorized, including the love between Eddie (Newman) and Sarah (Piper Laurie). They are two lost souls who are drawn together by their shared angst and alcoholism yet develop a true, powerful love that is heartfelt and realistic. They don't magically make each other perfect but they do bring each other some happiness and relief from their loneliness. Jackie Gleason is perfectly cast as Minnesota Fats, partly because he was "The Great One", Jackie Gleason, but also because he really knew the game of pool. Probably Holloywood's greatest all time pool player, in real life he hustled full grown men when he was an eight year old kid. Incidentally, both Newman and Gleason did their own pool shooting in the movie, adding to the movie's realism. George C. Scott plays Bert Gordon, the powerful, dangerous hoodlum who controls the money and action for both Eddie and Fats. Scott gives such a fine performance you could easily imagine he would have been a real life Bert Gordon if he hadn't been an actor.
If you want light, shallow fare, then "The Hustler" is not for you. But, if you are looking for a great, honest movie that will haunt you as you remember many of the moments in dark poolrooms, where everyone smoked and drank too much back when they were socially encouraged and viewed as relatively harmless; a film that neither preaches nor glamorizes, it just shows what is, powerfully and unapologetically, so you are forced to draw your own conclusions as you see that everything has its price and that even for the supposed winners, there are no magical, happily ever after scenarios where everyone and everything is beautiful and perfect, but rather flawed and struggling to find an elusive state they will probably never achieve, then you will truly enjoy "The Hustler", a great film.