Continuing my alternating pattern between Paul Newman and Michelle Williams movies, I watched the Robert Rossen (All The King’s Men, Body and Soul) 1961 classic The Hustler. This movie stars Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, Hud), perhaps in his most recognizable role. If someone were asked to name a billiards player, either real or fictional, the name Fast Eddie Felson would be on the tips of most people’s tongues. Twenty-five years between the release of The Hustler and 1986’s The Color of Money is the longest period between an original movie and its first sequel. Newman’s performance as Fast Eddie in the sequel is the one that won him his overly due Oscar Win for Best Actor.
The setup for the movie is easy. Fast Eddie hustles to the top through dive bars throughout the country. He makes it seem like he’s a terrible shot who gets lucky only to milk his opponent for all he’s worth. He aims to beat the legendary pool player Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason – television’s The Jackie Gleason Show) and take from him $10,000. This is something he successfully does. The problem is that Eddie needs to know when to quit. So rather than walking away, he drinks heavily, his play gets sloppy, and he loses all the money he had just won.
Piper Laurie (Children of a Lesser God, Carrie) is Sarah, Eddie’s love interest. They fall in lust over a bottle of liquor but fall in love after both of Eddie’s thumbs are broken after he hustles a group of men who turn on him. Sarah cares for him during this long recovery period, and we see Eddie at his best self. While on the mend, Fats’ cold and vicious bankroller, Bert Gordon (George C. Scott – Patton, Anatomy of a Murder), takes Eddie on as a student, hoping to turn him into the winning power player. Bert grooms Eddie to win a sizable trophy for him and eventually takes him to compete against a foreign shark whose love of billiards threatens to capsize their entire endeavor. Yet, not his success or failure that is tested, but his ability to appreciate the life elements he can’t get while playing pool, causing a slow rift between him and Sarah.
Though this movie’s backdrop is a pool hall, it is more about psychology, confidence, money, and craftiness. It is about wearing a mask and putting on a front for everyone to see and admire to bare yourself in proper form as these layers begin to shed. When Eddie defeats his rival in the movie’s extended final scene, a rematch with Minnesota Fats, we no longer admire him. We don’t even know if we want him to win anymore. Instead, we feel sorry for him.
Fast Eddie Felson is a character who is both admired and chastised. There are parts in this movie when we wish to be Fast Eddie. There are also parts when we are so delighted that we are not him. We are there with Eddie as he rises to the top, sinks to the bottom, and muddles his way through existence. As he wins in billiards, he fails to live. As he fails in billiards, he begins to live. Ultimately, is it for Eddie to decide which path he will take?
Plot 10/10
Character Development 9.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9.5/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 8/10
Universal Relevance 10/10 (indeed a situation almost all of us have been able to relate to at least once in our life)
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