Shattering and utterly brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2014)

If you love films, you just have to see Robert Rossen's The Hustler. Even though it centres around a very talented pool player, it is far from a run-of-the-mill sports film. Paul Newman portrays 'Fast' Eddie Felson in the performance of his lifetime. Eddie is a small-time pool hustler who travels far to play the reigning straight pool champion Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) and he's prepared to risk everything. In the process, he develops a relationship with the booze-addled girl Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie). They have a 'contract of depravity'. Rich bookie Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) tries to eliminate Piper to get the maximum out of Eddie. In the shattering climax, Eddie realises that he has been playing the wrong game, with the dramatic results that follow.
One notion that makes The Hustler such a great film is its brilliant acting. The classic supporting cast members (Laurie, Scott, Gleason, McCormick), three of which received Oscar nominations, is original in that every character is unique in its portrayal. The powerful Scott, sitting in the dark cigarette-smoked poolroom, is the source of evil throughout the movie. Gleason's performance is equally brilliant due to its subtleness, Fats barely has any lines, but plays a magical part with his movement, his dancing around the pool table. However, Paul Newman tops them all. Gordon tells Eddie he's a born loser, and we eventually know that this has little to do with the pool game. Eddie is a handsome, talented man but he's self-destructive and can't seem to come to terms with the dark world in which he lives, and this dramatic irony is omnipresent. He gives (indeed, donates) us a subtle but equally powerful performance, which perhaps only Brando could have pulled off. When Eddie finally leaves the poolroom, he and Fats conclude the film with the utterly great words: "Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool." "so do you, Fast Eddie."
Indeed, this movie's energy and enigma is largely due to the choice for black and white. As the slightly disappointing sequel by the great Scorsese proves, it just isn't the same in colour (despite the Academy Award for Newman). The shadowy, mysterious aura that hangs over the pool room creates such a magical atmosphere, in which everything could happen. Roger Ebert was very right when he said that excluding 'black & white films' from your repertoire is an indication of your cinematic illiteracy.