Hard Eight

Rating:
Summary: The title won't tell you anything.
Review: Hard what? It's a gambling term, as you learn half-way thru, but it STILL doesn't tell you anything! A gem of a movie. A very good story, well acted and well put together. Lots of close-ups and subtle facial expressions. But no car chase, so obviously no box-office hit. I had never heard of the writer/director, but I definitely want to see other movies he's made. A film about kindness, redemption, and old-fashioned courtesy against a background of gambling. John C. Reilly is just brilliant, tho all the leads are excellent, and Philip Seymour Hoffman's single cameo is almost worth the price of the video in itself. The DVD bonus material is very interesting. Somehow, the movie reminded me of "Slingblade": tho the story is different, some similar elements are the slow pace, undercurrent of violence, the long hard look at characters who slowly reveal themselves, and the excellent acting.

Rating:
Summary: A Winning Cast And Story
Review: If you're a fan of this genre, you won't be dissapointed in this Noir effort. The casting and plot are top notch, and the performances and aethetic of the film are primo. You have a hard time finding a character to root for in the film, but on its own terms this is a great movie on a rainy night. TJR

Rating:
Summary: Hard Eight is worth your time...
Review: This is by far my favorite of PT Anderson's movies. It is interesting, retrained, and sharp. The characters are fleshed out and are extremely human. This movie shines in how its characters relate to one another. Very enjoyable. I also like this movie because I feel this movie is about the "story" and not about the parlor tricks employed in his later works -- Boogie Nights a little while Magnolia is full of them.

If you liked Boogie Nights, I highly suggestion this movie. If you haven't ever seen a movie by PTA, make Hard Eight your first choice. It will warm you up to his style of film-making. And finally, when you see Magnolia - you can ask yourself, is this the same director who did the wonderful movie "Hard Eight?"

Rating:
Summary: Film making as an art
Review: I bought this film only because Gwyneth Paltrow is in it, and I'm collecting her films. No one to whom I've mentioned it has ever heard of it. But this film is special. It probably has just enough commercial content to justify its making, but not enough to make it succeed at the box office. This is the kind of film serious filmmakers make when someone else is paying the bills. A quotation by Roger Ebert on the DVD case captures much of what I felt: "...we're watching for the sheer pleasure of the dialogue and the acting." But to that I must add the structure of the film itself. It is superb. At first, you wonder whether you're seeing an actor of less than monumental proportions (John C Reilly). Later, you realize you've been watching an excellent actor play a character who doesn't have half the intelligence you and I have, and I don't know you. Paltrow is Paltrow--perhaps the finest actress to play in films. The old man--Philip Baker Hall, certainly has you wondering most of the time, But all gets explained. Samuel Jackson is excellent, as are the few bit speaking parts. Everything about this film is excellent, every detail. How many more are there out there like this that I've missed?

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable but sometimes aggravating.
Review: I'm not a fan of the director-- I didn't know he was the same director of "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights"-- though I enjoy his work. I'm not a film major. I'm just your average chick who rents movies on the weekends. And I liked "Hard Eight," but mostly because I truly enjoyed the underacting of Philip Baker Hall. While everyone's acting was superb, the characters played by Gwyneth Paltrow and John C. Reilly are so freaking DUMB I had a hard time sitting through some scenes.

The plot "twist" that everyone is waiting for never truly pans out, either. If you'r elooking for a quiet, gloomy sort of movie, this one's for you.

Rating:
Summary: Hard Boiled and Hard Edged
Review: Philip Baker Hall, an aging professional gambler, bumps into young luckless John C. Reilly outside of a desert coffee shop in Nevada. The older pro offers his friendship (just exactly why he does this is the mystery for most of the film). The somewhat childlike protege picks up the trade well enough but then complicates matters by introducing two unstable characters into this small family. One is Samuel L. Jackson, a crude casino gadfly who when he announces to P.B. Hall that he provides security to casinos is met with the retort, "Parking lot?" They take an instant dislike to one another. The other addition is a pretty enough cocktail waitress, well played by Gwyneth Paltrow, with low self esteem and less street smarts. Hall's continuous intensity makes it appear that, like a ticking time bomb, everything is calm for now but could explode at any moment. This film tells a great story that will keep you watching closely and goes behind the lights of the casino marquee to the world of the work a day gambler.

Rating:
Summary: Yowzaa! This one's a winna!
Review: First things first. If you like great acting, buy this DVD or rent it or a combination of the two. Great stuff. The acting is spot on. And Anderson's working with an incredible cast here, but there are still some pretty hard moments that are so true it's scary.

The extras on this DVD? Great. Two commentary tracks with Anderson's playful banter on both. All the Sundance Filmmakers stuff. The deleted scene is kind of throwaway, but whatever. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll do somersaults. ... .

So why give it four stars? Well, as a DVD it's a 5. As a movie it's a 4. It's not as good as Boogie Nights or Magnolia in my opinion. It has definite flashes of brilliance, but it's just one of those four star movies. Great film, but not outstanding. Hey, not bad for the first time out.

cheers

Rating:
Summary: A great first film from a great New,Important director!
Review: With the release of Magnolia to home video, I hope that people discover this hidden treasure; the first film by director Paul Thomas Anderson. In fact, if you saw Boogie Nights & Magnolia before this film, as I did, I think you'll appreciate it even more. At the time it was made, 1996, it might have been written off by some as a well done, but ultimately, a copy of Pulp Fiction. Not explaining events and the reasons behind the actions of the films characters until the middle of the film, and coming into a whole world that seems to exsist below the surface of our own, everyday world 4 years later seem like hallmarks of a Tarantino recipe for movie making. However, Anderson had a lot more to offer. After seeing his 2 films that followed, you can see how Hard Eight was a starting point for a brilliant director, who would eventually produce films that garnered Oscar nominations. But as I said before, its fun to look back on this first film, and see how Anderson borrowed from his own movie for his next 2 outings. Besides using many of the same actors in his 3 films like Baker-Hall, Riley, Philip Seymour and a host of others, Anderson actually takes more! From the bell toll that opens the movie, you realize that you've heard that sound before when Dirk Diggler was being beaten up in Boogie Nights. Then you realize that the music almost sounds the same. Thats because the musical director for this film, like Boogie Nights , is Michael Penn. The singing sounds the same! Its Aimee Mann who scored Magnolia!There are also inside references that will be used later on in his films. Listen to Samuel Jackson Tell Hall who he knows from Atlantic City. He knows Jimmy Gator. Jimmy Gator is the Quiz show host in Magnolia! And on and on! Even from the start, Anderson was "stacking the deck," weaving his own cinematic world, using what would become the same actors( much like Tim Burton does), infusing inside jokes and characters with the same names, and using the same musicians to create his soundtracks.This movie is definitely the weakest Anderson's three, but still very good, and a real cool harbinger of things that would come!

Rating:
Summary: An amazing debut
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson knew what he was doing. Back in the year-o-our-Lord 19-hundred-and-ninety-six, he made a small film called SYDNEY (It was the studios idea of calling the film Hard Eight). It featured a wonderful Phillip Baker Hall (who was again featured in Magnolia and Boogie Nights). As well as John C. Reilly (Magnolia and Boogie Nights again) as well as a wonderfully done Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson.

The script is just absolutely top-notch. This is not an action film. This is a character film, as is all of Paul Thomas Anderson's films. The cinematography (how the film looks) is amazing. Its not a cliche-ridden film as most movies are when centered around Reno or Vegas. You meet a man with an unknown past, find little facts about him along the way, and before its over, you're not sure whether it was better to know or be left in the dark.

The story is that Sydney (Phillip Baker Hall)helps a down-on-his-luck guy, John (John C. Reilly). He takes him under his wing. Wonderful writing, action, and suspense follows. I won't give away too much. I like to get the surprises as they come.

The performances are amazing, establishing Phillip Baker Hall (which P.T. Anderson wrote it for) as one of the best actors out there today. Samuel L. Jackson gives a surprisingly interesting performance, as well as Gwyneth.

It is not Boogie Nights. It is not Magnolia. It stands on its own as a dwelve into the mind of a man with a sordid past and the sweet-and-sour need for redemption, in any fashion you can get it. The extras are very interesting (only ONE deleted scene? Are you kidding me?), the most being the Sundance Lab test-shots. Its actors just acting, little scenery, no music. Its raw and beautiful, the way these actors go from the rough video to the big screen.

A definite must-see.

Rating:
Summary: A small gem
Review: One of the best low budget movies of the past decade, and a solid debut for the director who would go on to make Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

Philip Baker Hall is magnificent as a mysterious gambler who takes a not-too-bright John C. Reilly (great as always) under his wing for reasons that go unexplained until almost the end of the movie. There's not much plot: the pleasure is in the dialogue and the performances, including a brief cameo by Philip Seymour Hoffman that's as scene-stealing as anything he's done.

The movie is a must for connoisseurs of good drama.