Can't buy me love....

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2007)

What's an artist to do in a society where value is equated with money? As the film opens, Fast Eddie Felson and his sidekick Charlie are on the road, hustling small town, poolroom suckers all the way from Oakland to somewhere near Pittsburgh on their way to New York City. Eddie's goal is to play and beat the great Minnesota Fats at straight pool--call the ball number and call the pocket, first to 125 wins. Eddie carries his leather cased cue like a gunfighter and this showdown is to take place at the Ames Pool Hall. Paul Newman said once, "Ames in New York was on 47th Street on the second floor, just off Broadway." It's a dark place, an arena, a semi-lit coliseum where men play games for money. But, for Eddie, this game is more than just another hustle for money. He's come to claim the title of the best, number one, the champion and the only person standing in his way is Minnesota Fats.
Bert Gordon is the local money betting boss. Bert's a gambler. He's also a power broker for those who want to play games for high stakes. Gordon is a businessman, part finance capitalist, part lord. He's a cunning dude, made powerful by the usual exploitation of finance capital and usurers in general, percentage loans. He's also keenly aware of the character weaknesses of his bondsmen.
When Eddie plays Fats that first time, we see that he is a better pool player. Neither Eddie nor Minnesota are mere cheap hustlers taking the money of fools who bet their money on their skills versus theirs, but that is the way they make their livings. No, Fast Eddie and Minnesota Fats are artists. They love the game they play and they play the game they love and they're the best at what they do.
Bert uses people to make money and to make himself feel powerful. The lower you are, the higher Gordon is. Ever conscious of his place at the top of the heap, Bert is there to see Minnesota eventually turn the tide on Eddie. Fats maintains his cool. Hubris comes before Eddie's long fall from a winning peak of $18,000 back to his $200 stake. Gordon sees this weakness in Eddie and declares Felson a loser, even as Eddie has reached his peak in winnings. Bert's money backs Fats and the game goes on way longer than its initial 26 hours.
"What beat me?" Eddie asks Gordon. "Character," Bert replies.
Eddie is spooked by Gordon's "loser" tag. He abandons Charlie, his long time partner and goes off to lick his psychological wounds. Charlie has disappointed Eddie with his all too human focus on saving enough money for his old age. Charlie doesn't doesn't understand Eddie's need to practice his art as his motivating factor in life--that motive stands above the security of money.
That's when Eddie meets Sarah. Sarah has been into a heavy bout of self-destruction. She doesn't want to live in a world where her humanity is treated as an object for sale. In her own way, Sarah has become a loser, hiding her failure to find a loving relationship in endless bottles of scotch. After the two meet, they retreat to Sarah's apartment for what appears to become a last tango in New York. At first though, Sarah rejects Eddie. "You're too hungry," she says to him after their first lustful kiss. But she realizes as Eddie does later, "25% of something big is better than a 100% of nothing." She takes a chance that Eddie and she might find love.
Sarah turns out to be right with her gamble. She falls for Eddie because she sees that Eddie is a lover, a man who is passionate about his art and about life. She sees what Bert's inherent sadism is as well. It's Gordon who feels weak and characterless in the face of passion filled men like Eddie and to women in love, like herself. She sees that behind Bert's mask, he sees people as mere things to be manipulated for his own accumulation of power.
At a crucial point in the lovers' dialogues, which take place between Eddie and herself, she asks Eddie why he thinks Bert is right about him being a loser. The implied question is what makes Gordon a winner. "He owns things," Eddie says about Bert, explaining why Felson and others think Gordon is a winner. Sarah replies, "Is that what makes him a winner?"
What is a winner? Someone who possesses the colour of money? Where does Bert's power come from? "He owns things." That's Eddie's answer. But after Sarah hears Eddie's rapturous description of pool as art, she says, "You're not a loser Eddie. You're a winner. I love you Eddie." At that moment, Eddie begins to understand what it's all about--his character is enriched by love freely given. He only begins at that point though. He only begins.....the play's the thing and at the end of his game with Minnesota Fats there is a felt mutual recognition and respect in the air. At the same time, the relation of lordship and bondage is broken on Eddie's newly found character, integrity, courage and solidarity. All this personal strength and solidarity has been brought to the fore by love.
Willie Mosconi, the best pool player ever, advised Gleason (Fats) and Felson (Newman) on pool playing and he plays a bit part in "The Hustler", as does one former Raging Bull, Jake LaMotta.
See this movie.