Making It To The Top

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2019)

Many people possess a talent but don't necessarily make it to the top. "The Hustler" is about a pool shark who, having realised that he falls into this category, enters into a Faustian pact in order to give himself the best possible chance of achieving his ambition to be recognised as the best pool player in the United States. As with all such deals, he soon discovers that any success he achieves comes at a very high price.
Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) is the arrogant, young pool player who, under the guidance of his long-term partner and mentor, Charlie Burns (Myron McCormick), travels across country from Oakland, California to New York to challenge the country's undefeated champion and prove his own superiority. Eddie is very successful at ripping off the unsuspecting locals that he cons into playing him at the various pool halls and bars that he stops off at during his journey but is also aware that playing Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) at the Ames pool hall in New York will present a far greater challenge.
When Eddie meets Fats, their encounter soon develops into a marathon in which, after some initial losses, Eddie finds himself $18,000 ahead. At one point, Fats arranges for his manager Bert Gordon (George C Scott) to attend and Bert quickly sums Eddie up as a loser. This opinion is vindicated when Eddie becomes the architect of his own defeat and completes the match totally exhausted and almost broke. Following this, Eddie ends his partnership with Charlie and spends the night at a local bus station where he meets Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie). She's a depressed alcoholic with a pronounced limp and a chequered past but recognises in Eddie, someone who's just as lonely and desperate as she is and they soon begin an affair which develops into a loving relationship.
Eddie goes back to small-time hustling but one night, after humiliating an opponent by showing off, ends up with both his thumbs broken by a group of thugs who take exception to his behaviour. This convinces him that his only chance of getting back on his feet and ultimately being able to make another, more successful challenge against Minnesota Fats, is to take up Bert Gordon's offer to manage him. What Eddie doesn't realise is just how costly his deal with Bert will turn out to be.
Based on Walter Tevis' 1959 novel, this well-written cinema classic features strong characters who are brought to life brilliantly in a whole series of exceptional acting performances, four of which (Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C Scott & Jackie Gleason) deservedly received Oscar nominations. Fast Eddie's development from an immature, swaggering raw talent to a player with the necessary character and good judgement to be a winner is fascinating and sometimes painful to watch and although his journey is never much fun, it's certainly memorable, full of incident and makes some interesting points that are just as valid today as they were at the time when this movie was made.