Dramatic, sometimes downright melodramatic. There's something kind of James Deanish in Newman's character - naive, brash, arrogant - old school 50s tough guy. Shot in black and white, it still feels distinctly early 60s, and comes off as a modern tragedy (if not melodrama). You can feel elements of 50s drama merging with the rough-hewn existentialism of the early 60s, though it's a drama in every sense of the word - nothing twilight zone about this one, except the way characters seem to resemble Rod Serling a little bit in the way they talk. I didn't realize until the end, Paul Newman's financial banker from the underworld is played by a youthful George C Scott, who does a great job. Paul himself (as mentioned) sometimes feels a bit over the top, as does his lady love (an interesting character played by Piper Laurie), but in spite of that, the story remains interesting. If nothing else, it has a lot of atmosphere, partially due to being in black and white (the version I saw was in black and white). I tend to like movies that I've seen from this time period. There's a feeling of change in the air, an attempt at poetic realism, though with the 'cool' so thick you can cut it with a knife, it may fall short of realistic for a modern audience (of course this was 45 years ago). But on the poetic side, it doesn't fall short.
November 20, 2008When Newman died I decided to buy this movie. It shows him at his prime. The Hustler is a movie about redemption in 1961 America.
The movie's pacing is different from the standard movie. This is a classic. It's fun to revisit the 50's and early 60's to see the time and values put forth by Hollywood. This is a pre-Beatle, pre-boomer movie but one that shaped boomer genaeration. Seldom do we see redeeming movies anymore. It was such an important theme back then. I guess we have forgotten our classic in now fast-paced world of grab the most stuff. This movie is a trip back to a different time. Outstanding cinematography.
November 2, 2008I purchased "The Hustler" in tribute to the passing of iconic Paul Newman. The movie represents my favorite Newman performance. The package is wonderful with an extra disc of Extras. A must-have movie for true fans of Paul Newman.
October 31, 2008Boring tale about neurotic phonies in a neurotic phony world.
Waste of acting talents and photography.
The music in the jazz scene is described by the subtitles as "Dixieland jazz". If that is so, I am King of France.
October 30, 2008An outstanding piece of American film; commentary useful to some degree altho one of the woman commentators (a daughter of a director or producer) apparently didnt watch the movie very closely, and totally misses the point of the ending when Eddie tells Burt "go ahead and have your boys break my arms..." because otherwise it's as if she never lived."
October 30, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(98 reviews)
