Hustle
Hustleis a taut, engrossing made-for-television feature about the downward spiral of Pete Rose in the late 1980s, when the baseball legend's gambling addiction led to his banishment from the game. Tom Sizemore perfectly captures Rose's blithe, avuncular public personality and more secretive, worrisome signs of eroding integrity as betting losses lead the Cincinnati Reds' manager to start wagering on baseball itself--including the fortunes of his own team. Peter Bogdanovich (Saint Jack) directs an excellent cast (including Dash Mihok as the stooge who gets suckered into paying Rose's debts to a lethal bookie), and teases out a fascinating psychodrama about the depths of denial and depravity ordinary people will reach to bask in a superstar's sunlight. Melissa DiMarco makes much of a thin role as Rose's wife, Carol, whose faith in her husband's essential goodness never wavers even as she retaliates against his degeneration.--Tom Keogh