Fast Eddie. Slow film. Overripe script.

Rating: 5/10 (7 November 2007)

Positives: The cinematography deserved all of its Oscar, and George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason are majestic. When they're on screen or the story picks up, it's a gripping movie. There's not a duff turn among the supporting cast either.
Negatives: Was Newman trying to be Brando? Because for me, his performance bombs - he looks like a nerdy college kid trying to act tough, the cockiness is totally forced and overplayed. And what are the redeeming features of Piper Laurie's character that Eddie puts up with her? She goes around being a mouse and bringing everybody down, the wrong sort of drunk for the story. These tough guys would have found a good-time gal, or at least told her to cheer up once in a while. If Eddie's trying to help her because he feels the need to help himself it doesn't come over in the script. Her aspirations to becoming a writer consist of four lines typed up one drunken afternoon, and the three (ten-dollar) words on the mirror. That's pantomime. There's no hint that she knows she's deceiving herself, or drinking secretly, or that she has any inner pain at all - she's just grumpy ALL the time. (She had polio and her father died - that's it? Maybe it's the hairdo). Sarah's misery is all taken as read, same as Eddie's genius (he never practices) and the characters come across as half-baked. Sarah's story also steals the focus from Eddie; she does make a far bigger sacrifice after all. But because the character is so thinly written, there's no chemistry between her and anybody. In fact the only dramatic tension is in the pool contests, which may make you feel 'The Hustler' is better than it is.
Presumably this movie was part of the early 60's gritty realism trend in drama, but these preppy actors attempting a methody thing with the progressively more overripe script just come across as pretentious. 'The Cincinnatti Kid' is a far better sports drama of the time. 'The Hustler' tries to do too much.