Rating: 
Summary: Fast and Loose
Review: This was an absolutely great movie. Newman was definitely at his best as "Fast Eddie" Felson. This is the role that would eventually win him the Oscar in 1986 for the Color of Money. The performances by Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats, George C. Scott as Bert Gordon and Piper Laurie as Sarah were all Oscar worthy. Definitely worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Practically Perfect
Review: This film, with Chinatown, and Casablanca, must be one of the top three American movies ever made. The story, dialogue, acting, pace, background detail, direction, lighting, music, the lot, are virtually flawless in all three cases. Although Casablanca has more humour, it leaves you, like the other two, with a better understanding of the way life really is. Particularly if you have anything romantic in your soul. Romance is partly a desire for love and glory, but also a sense of loss. It's facing up to the loss that is character-forming. Maybe the subtlety of The Hustler is that the Piper Laurie character is shown as needing a dependent figure she can feel superior to. When Newman is himself crippled, she recovers from her booze addiction, and her flaw is that she doesn't in fact want him to be strong. In a way, this is an unresolved element in the plot. Perhaps Chinatown is the better and even more perfectly rounded film. But The Hustler is still a very great achievement.
Rating:
Summary: An American Tale
Review: I used to watch this movie when I was a teenager with some friends of mine. We shot pool all of the time and would watch this movie and/or the Color of Money before hopping in someone's car and going to a pool tournament. Our favorite parts of the movie were the two acts in which Minnesota Fats(Jackie Gleason) and Fast Eddie(Paul Newman) played each other. About once a month I still manage to stop in a gritty pool hall, not much different than the one depicted in the movie. The same type of people you see hanging around these pool rooms hang around in the ones in this movie.I've grown up now, and can see that there is a lot more than pool shots going on in this movie. The DVD has a commentary track, in which the director's daughter says that the movie is about what it means to become a success in America - what you have to do to become one and what comes with success. This was the first movie the director compelted after he gave up the names of innocent people to the McCarthy Communist witch-hut committees. Who knows how that experience effected him - but I'm sure in someway that it carried over into this masterpiece. I'm sure there's more Minnesota Fats in him than Eddie Felson - but that's what it takes to make a Hollywood movie. Although Paul Newman is the main character in this movie and the story revolves around him - the story isn't complete without the other characters. You have Burt Gordon(George C. Scott) who is the complete capitalist. He is a hustler - someone who has bucked the system and made a lot of money quickly. An outlaw in a way. Made money gambling and knowing what other people will do. However, all he cares about is making more money and he destroys people who are in his way or who may show him a better one. You have Minnesota Fats(Jackie Gleason) - the greatest pool player on earth. The perfect artist or the perfect athlete. He shoots pool like a machine, but seems to do it with no joy. He's just a robot. He works for Burt Gordon. No. He is owned by Burt Gordon. Somewhere along the line he sold out to him. Although he is the best at pool, he is not his own man and one feels sorry for him at the end of the movie. You have the Piper Laurie character. The needy co-dependent who has demons in her past that aren't totally explained in the movie, but don't need to be, because everyone knows someone with demons, if they don't have some of their own. She understands what is going on around her. Fast Eddie - the man who loves to shoot pool for the sake of shooting pool, but eventually comes to see that unbridled ambition isn't worth fulfilling, because of the sacrifices that it demands. He gets "character" and walks away a free man. This is a great movie. Won several Academy Awards and is probably one of the top 100 American movies ever made. That's all you need to know.
Rating:
Summary: A true Classic
Review: Excellent writing and acting. A must have for any pool/billiard person. There is much to be gained by reading the book and watching the movie again. I normally prefer one or the other...in this case I keep going back and forth. One of the best B&W classics ever. You will find many subtle things in the book that pop out in the movie once you notice them. The DVD is much improved over the VHS. I wish they still made movies this rich with depth and drama without having to resort to visual effects/violence for entertainment value. This has it all.
Rating:
Summary: equipoise
Review: This is the quintessential NYC genre movie. Shot at Ames, behind the smoke ring producing Camel sign in a Times Square that is no longer there, in a pool room that is no longer there but played host to late night early morning money games with players like "Jersey Red" "Boston Shorty" "Fifth Avenue Red and "Tommy the Hat" (who is the guy sitting around the table with the hat on of course)The black woman who is at the counter was actually an employee at the old and now gone Ames. Gleason, who made his own shots in this film, plays an understated, world weary, hustler who know's the score and plays the game.
An absolute must see film. The addition of George C Scott rounds out the cast of top flight actors shot in close up film noire sequences.
Rating: 
Summary: Beware of the commentary
Review: With great anticipation, I played my new copy of The Hustler DVD last night and turned on the commentary. I've been a huge fan of this film since I first saw it and was excited to hear what this interesting mix of commentators - director Robert Rossen's daughter, Carol Rossen, Paul Newman, Richard Schickel, cast member Ulu Grosbard and Dede Allen - had to say. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of commentary dialog, I quickly realized that none of these people were actually watching the film! While interesting at times, their comments basically amounted to an oral history of the movie and the film climate during the time The Hustler was produced. Some of the reminiscing is definitely interesting, particularly how Newman came into the film. But nobody actually says anything about a scene as it is being shown. Even more annoying was the realization that this was really just an extension of the interviews done for the documentary also included on the DVD (and why is Newman absent from that but not the commentary?), so in some cases you hear extended takes of the same dialog. The overall effect was like having someone sit behind you in a movie theater and share thoughts and anecdotes from the film but paying zero attention to anything transpiring on the screen. Most annoying was Carol Rossen - whose involvement in this project is already in question. But hearing her speak, you get the impression she directed it herself. From the opening, Rossen blathers on endlessly about everything from Hollywood blacklisting to whether or not she would have been appropriate for the Piper Laurie role. Perhaps interesting on some levels, but does this really work as movie commentary? I don't think so, and to pass this off as such is misleading. For example, in the opening, Carol shares her perspective on the film - how the atmosphere in the pool rooms was very corporate with men dressed in suits, etc. "Nobody smokes, nobody drinks," she says at one point, just as Paul Newman enters a poolroom and lights up! From that point on, one cannot help but notice how nearly EVERYONE in this film smokes and drinks, which is no surprise since that was part of the pool-hall atmosphere from that time. At another point, everyone is reminiscing about Piper Laurie, while the great George C. Scott becomes a bigger part of the story, playing Bert Gordon. You almost feel like yelling at the screen "hey, anybody notice George C. Scott???" Rather than waiting to see if anyone had any comments about him, I finally gave up. Commentary aside, The Hustler is a great film and this DVD goes a long way toward giving it the treatment it deserves. The menus and extras on pool playing and trick shots are wonderful. I just would have preferred a real commentary and an extended documentary, instead of this frustrating compromise.
Rating:
Summary: You Can Bank On This One....
Review: This review refers to the Special Edition DVD(20th century Fox)..
The Hustler is a film that stays with you long after you've seen it. It is actually two stories in one. The main focus is of course a character study of a pool hustler, and life in the pool halls, the other is a love story.
Paul Newman plays the title character, he is Fast Eddie Felson, a young pool shark who feels he has something to prove to the world.. He seeks out "Minnesota Fats",(Jackie Gleason), supposedley the best in the world, and takes him on in an all night challenge. Eddie is good, Real good, but his cockiness gets in the way, and he fails to prove his status.
He falls into a pit of self-pity, to be brought back around by a girl her meets, Sarah,(Piper Laurie), who is not totaly without her own problems, but they both give each other what they need,fall in love, and seem to gain a renewed zest for life.
Pool and hustling is what's still important to Eddie though, as he hooks up with a sinister "manager",Bert(George C. Scott)who will get him to "where the action is." Eddie wants to win and win big, no matter what it may cost him in the end. And in the end he is a sadder but wiser player.
The cast is magnificent. Paul Newman with the off set coaching of the great Willie Marsconi, looks like he was born in a pool hall. Jackie Gleason is exquiste is his portrayal of Minnesota fats, he adds little nuances, that are make him look like the consumate expert, Piper Laurie gives a stellar performance as an alcoholic in need of some love, and last but no way least the great George C. Scott is outstading as the uncaring and sinister Bert.Also look for a cameo of Mr. Marsconi!
The film won Best Cinematography(B&W) in 1961, and when you view this DVD you will see why. The DVD is a terrific transfer. Most of the scenes naturally take place in the dark arenas of the pool halls, and the lighting is excellent and picture is crisp and clear.The scenes outdoors are bright. The widescreen is very good, and the sound is so good you will think the pool table is right in your living room . This is a classic Newman film and I'm thrilled with the treatment it has recieved, you will be too!For all you "Extra Lovers" out there you will be in heavan with this one. There are lots,including some "trick shot" instuction from a pro.
A couple more notes of interest, The movie was nominated for best picture along with. Best Actor, 2 Suporting Actors(both Gleason and Scott), and a Best Actress nomination for Piper Laurie as well. The movie was beat out by that pesky little West Side Story(loved that one too)that year, and Newman FINALLY got his long deserved Oscar for reprising Fast Eddie in the sequel to this movie made in 1986, "The Color of Money." So you rack em, I'll break.............Laurie
Rating:
Summary: An Absolute Dream Cast in Perfect Vehicle
Review: The only way you could go wrong with a movie starring Paul Newman, George C. Scott, Jackie Gleason and Piper Laurie is with a bad script. However, this script is based on the brilliant Walter Tevis novel and lives up to that source material. I know nothing about pool and you don't need to know anything about it to be absorbed by the human drama of this film. Paul Newman IS Fast Eddie, an up and comer in this twilight world of pool hall expertise. The man he needs to defeat is Minnesota Fats, played by a Jackie Gleason who is so far removed here from being Ralph Kramden of the Honeymooners that you'd not know it was the same actor. George C. Scott turns in almost a totally black performance as the pool promoter and few actors would be willing to deliver such an unflinching portrait of an unsympathetic character. The performance that has stayed in my mind the longest, however, is Piper Laurie's. She does a wonderfully sad and poignant portrayal of a woman beset by her own demons slumming in Fast Eddie's twilight world.
Rating:
Summary: A Piper Laurie fan
Review: This is all-time great film-making, with perhaps Paul Newman's greatest work this side of Cool Hand Luke, and George C. Scott is terrific, as is Jackie Gleason. And it is prehaps the COOLEST film ever made. But I have to admit, maybe the thing I like best about it is Piper Laurie, her performance and her character. I just adore her in this movie. That is my ideal of a female lead performance; she should have won the Oscar. But I'm sure I'm biased. A major favorite of mine, and it looks great digitally.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: "The Hustler" is a classic, and one of my favorite movies. It is the story of Fast Eddie Felson who starts out a "boy" and becomes a man. Paul Piper Laurie plays a wounded character with subtle effectiveness... Jackie Gleason is excellent as Minnesota Fats, a man who appears self-assured, with a commanding presence. "The Hustler" was nominated for nine Academy Awards...It is a beautifully shot movie, and the direction is seamless and unhurried. The Hustler is timeless, and would be appreciated and praised by a first-time viewer today, even though it was made in 1961.
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