Such a frustrating disappointment

Instant Favorite.

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is almost the perfect movie. The economy of scenes, spoken lines and the beautiful photography all work together to tell the story about a man who has to learn what it means to be a human being. It requires the sacrifice of a woman who truly loves him to wake this guy up to what kind of world he created for himself. This movie should be required viewing for every 12 year old girl in the world so they can be exposed to the type of people George C Scott played in this film that are really out there in the real world.

I love this film. It was the second film I saw starring Paul Newman. "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956) was the first, which is the biopic of legendary middleweight boxer Rocky Graziano. My older brother used to work in a billiards hall, and was a very good straight pool player as well. In straight pool, the table is larger and the pockets are smaller; which makes it quite difficult. It also makes you a much better player on a standard size table. In addition, a very close friend of mine's father played Willie Mosconi in an exhibition game. Mosconi, who was one of the greatest pool players of all time, does the one trick shot in the film (known as a masse shot). Other than that, Jackie Gleason (who is a brilliant player himself) and Paul Newman did all their own shots in the film.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just not getting it? Is this some American thing that Brits don't get? Everyone seems to be feeling very "enlightened" having been shown that talent doesn't accommodate success, & yet the whole world is full of talented people who are forced to palette their mundane lives built on the foundations of moral bankruptcy & economic slavery. The only way people "Win" as far as I can see is luck & cheating. It's not like talented people rule countries around the world; it's not as though the top 10 billboard artists know their musical craft. It's about miserable people wanting to inflict more misery on others than they themselves have experienced. This is nothing new. The only difference here is that this sad fact of our corruption fits in to all the clichéd macho tropes of trite Hollywood media. Sarah - being a "female" knows exactly what's going on - easy to seduce. Eddie - being a bloke gets angry when he doesn't get his own way. Bert - being a "Businessman" only thinks in terms of money. Fats - is.. guess what! A Fat Man!! And he don't talk much man! Yeah man! Cool man! What a load of cods wallop! There's no subtlety in any of these performances which are dragged on & on & on until it becomes a frustrating chore. It's so very blatant that "Winning is knowing when to quit" & that "No amount of money can buy a girl like Sarah". The other message here is that people love to hate talented people. But the protagonist for some reason that eludes me is too retarded to grasp this simple philosophy of life. And instead chooses to go on a self-egotistical rampage out of greed, self denial, & fear of running out of booze & sex. ??? You couldn't make this stuff up!! Even the dead drunk irate poleaxe student bum Sarah makes more sense than the rest of these pretend characters at one point! But hey man.. it's Pool man yeh! And pool is cool yeh? So Spoiler alert: The best character in the film, the one you tolerate the film for; the girl Sarah, takes it upon herself to kill herself, but not before sleeping with the creep "Bert" who insults her, threatens her, sexually assaults her, & tells her to disappear. Why? Coz it takes the death of a bright young lady (who merely needed love) in order for the douche bag to finally win that darn game of cool pool & take home a small fortune! So the moral to this story kids, is that if you wanna win a game of pool, you've got to loose at life first! Yeh man! Cool, man!What a waste of my time.

The Hustler (1961) **** (out of 4) 'Fast' Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) shows up to play the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in a game of pool and soon the hotshot realizes that there's more to winning than just talent. After some time off the hustler winds up with a woman (Piper Laurie) who suffers from alcohol abuse but even worse is when he teams up with a gambler (George C. Scott).Robert Rossen's THE HUSTLER is without question one of the greatest films of its type. Most people are connected to it because of its story of a hustler and the gambling aspect but there are some of the greatest performances you're ever going to see on display here as well as a pretty depressing look at losers. Throughout the movie Felson is constantly called a loser, which is a term that fits the majority of the characters in this rather grim, dark and depressing film.For me the greatest thing here are the performances with Newman easily leading the way. It's easy to see why this is the film that turned Newman into a superstar. Up until this point he had played a fair share of troubled rebels but everything in him just came together for this role. He's certainly very believable as this young guy who can't seem to stay out of his own way when it comes to trouble. This is a very troubled character and the actor perfectly nails every aspect of it. Gleason will always be known as a comedic actor but he could nail drama when he needed and this is the perfect example. It certainly doesn't hurt that the two actors were also great pool players and this brings a real nature to the film.Laurie is rather heart-breaking in her role as the drunk and then you've got Scott playing one of the biggest snakes in film history. There's no question that his Burt character is one of the great villains in film history. Myron McCormick is excellent in his small role and then you've got a young Murray Hamilton. THE HUSTLER also benefits from some wonderful cinematography that perfectly captures this pool world. I mean, has there ever been a better example of why B&W is so great? Add in the terrific score and you've really got something special.THE HUSTLER is a classic film that constantly gets better each time you view it.