Hard Eight

Rating:
Summary: compelling and heartfelt
Review: My personal favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson's films, Hard Eight quenches my thirst with a good twist and ending. Boogie Nights and Magnolia seemed to me to be primarily centered around the characters (which is great in it's own respect), but both movies left me wanting a bit more. Philip Baker Hall stars this time as elderly lonesome gambler Sydney, who, for reasons unknown, helps two young confused kids find love and peace in the world.
This film deals with issues of regret, guilt and self-redemption as Sydney's generosity and charity is not as selfless as it may seem. And so we follow the daily lives of Sydney and these young adults, as their neuroses guide them into very unique situations which brilliantly outline the chaos they feel in their lives. The characters are sad, realistic, and evoke empathy from the viewer simply on maintaining their everyday lives.
The question that is raised is whether or not personal guilt of the past can ever be abolished by performing acts of kindness in the present. Can a man redeem his character even when he is in his 70's, or have his bad choices set the tone for his existence? Is covering up the past while refusing to deal with it head-on a detrimental decision? These questions are left unanswered in this compelling story of a lonely old man's attempt to clear his conscience.

Rating:
Summary: the brilliance of PT Anderson
Review: Before Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and the upcoming Punch-drunk Love, PT. Anderson made Hard Eight nee Sydney. Hard Eight is just as compelling as his latter works, though incredibly different and a unique experience. It's a marvel to see the seeds of genius being planted onscreen.

The main difference between this film and Magnolia and Boogie Nights is it's slower paced and less flashy. But it's never ever boring and the characters and dialogue are so compelling as is that camera wizardry would have killed this movie's intentions.

The plot follows Sydney, a Nevada gambler, an old-timer, a gentleman. One day, he meets John, a drifter who needs 6,000 dollars to pay for his mother's funeral. Sydney offers him advice and soon the two form a father-son bond that is touching and chilly at once.

Philip Baker Hall gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Sydney. He gave an incredible performance as Richard Nixon in Robert Altman's Secret Honor, but this is the role that most people will see and think "genius." John C Reilly is equally adept at portraying his character, a sort of dim guy with a good heart and a lot of love to give.

The emotions that run through this film are true and touching. John needs a father. Sydney needs to clear his conscience and discovers something true in the process.

When the titles roll up, you almost feel healthy having seen this beautiful film.

Rating:
Summary: Hard To Stay Awake...
Review: Don't get me wrong here. I am a fan of Anderson's work in general, especially Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love. But I just could handle Hard Eight. Usually Anderson's slower pace is a welcome change for me as I really enjoy character driven dramas. The acting was pretty good, but I just thought the script lacked anything of interest. Maybe next time, but I can't recommend actually buying this one unless you want a complete Anderson collection.

Rating:
Summary: It's been a long since I enjoyed a film so much.
Review: "Hard Eight" is a true sleeper. The pace, while slow and steady, is riveting in a low-key manner. The title refers to a craps bet (rolling two fours) the lead character Sydney (played to perfection by Philip Baker Hall) likes to play. As the film opens in Reno, Sydney encounters John (John C. Riley) a down on his luck younger man. Sydney offers to buy John a cup of coffee. As they talk it develops that John is returning from Las Vegas where he lost all his money trying to win enough to bury his mother. Sydney decides to help John. Upon returning to Las Vegas Sydney instructs John on how to get a free room and maybe win a little bit of money. The deceptively simple and effective plan is played out with an understated sense of flair and humor.
Fast forward to two years later in Reno. Sydney and John are good friends in a father/son like relationship. John's girlfriend Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) a waitress/hooker, calls Sydney "Captain", because, as she tells him, John "follows you and worships you like you're a captain".
Along comes Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson), a low-life casino security consultant. Soon Clementine involves first John and then Sydney in an ugly situation. After Sydney helps the pair resolve the affair he is confronted by Jimmy, who threatens to reveal a past connection between John and Sydney. From there the pace accelerates.
Without spoiling a juicy ending I'll just say it equals the rest of a great movie.
"Hard Eight" has everything a sleeper should - good actors well cast in their roles - a score that truly adds to the experience - an interesting script well directed and edited. They all serve to pull an attentive audience deeper into the characters.
Phillip Baker Hall is perfect as Sydney - you'll know what I mean after seeing the film. The rest of the cast also deliver good characterizations. Paul Thomas Anderson, in his feature directorial debut, has presented a tough act to follow. This he did admirably in "Boogie Nights"
I highly recommend "Hard Eight". It has been a very long time since I enjoyed a film so much.

Rating:
Summary: A nice Find
Review: Hard Eight is one of those sharp character driven dramas that film fans will appreciate if they Like Paul Thomas Anderson in general. Anderson is the kind of writer that brings new things to life each time out. This time he finds a lonely gambler in his later days who befriends misfits. A great cast led my Phillip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly make the movie a treat and Sam Jackson and Gweneth Paltrow also show up for supporting roles.

The Special Features offer three scenes from the movie shot on video as part of a Sundance workshop. It also has two commentary tracks. The first one with Anderson and Hall is interesting, because Anderson is really funny and well spoken and has a lot of interesting things to say. Hall, on the other hand, drones on and on about character motivation and dynamics and sounds like a junior level college course on acting. Not to take away from Hall's performance which is top notch, but listening to actors talk about what goes on in an actor's mind is numbing.

Hard Eight is as interesting if not as ambitious as Anderson's later projects. If you like his other films, you'll do yourself a favor seeing this one.

Rating:
Summary: Too ambiguous and understated
Review: Maybe I was born into a generation of short attention spans, but I just felt this movie moved too slowly. I understand that it's a character-driven drama and not an action flick, but I do now believe there's such a thing as too much subtlety. Ninety percent of the film consists of extremely drawn-out, quiet conversations between two characters, with lines no more than a couple of words long: "Cigarette?" "No thanks," etc. It seems too artsy and contrived. A lot of filmakers - I can't help but mention Tarantino here - use mundane, understated dialogue to act as comic bathos, or to develop character, but it doesn't work so well in Hard Eight.

That said, it still deserves at least 3.5 stars (rounded to four). Hall's unrelentingly phlegmatic Sydney plays so well off of Jackson's 'enobled thug' Jimmy; the scenes where they confront each other, Sydney doggedly trying to assert his principles, Jimmy exposing Sydney's hypocrisy and condescension, are well played-out. You have trouble deciding where your sympathies lie, which always good, and I was strangely satisfied with the ending as well. Also, it's such a short, simple and (in some ways) unpretentious movie that it's hard to judge it very harshly; it would be like condemning a nice little schoolhouse in relation to the Taj Mahal.

Rating:
Summary: The movie's real title is Sydney, ask PTA
Review: It's tough to belive a director could make something this goodfor a first movie. The plot moves slowly, but is interesting andslyly funny. The dialouge is truly sublime, P.T. Anderson has a great ear for the rhythms of everyday conversation and a good sense of humor as well. The acting is first rate. Phillip Baker Hall is one of the best actors alive, it is a travesty that he was not nominated for an Oscar for his work here (check out Altman's Lords of Treason (aka Secret Honor) for a classic Hall performance). John C. Reilly can play an amiable loser better than anyone and this is his one of his finest moments. I'm actually not much of a Gwyneth Paltrow fan, but I was impressed by her against type performance here. Samuel L. Jackson is equally believable as a sleazy gambler who knows a destructive secret. The DVD of Hard Eight takes full advantage of the capabilities of the new technology. The widescreen version of the film looks great and the sound is crystal clear. The best part, though, was the commentary track by PTA and Hall. Both are intellegent and well spoken (though PTA has a bit of a potty mouth). I actually considered dropping out of film school after hearing this commentary, thinking "what can that cynical professor teach me that I haven't already learned from PTA", but I decided against dropping out. The second commentary track had some moments of insight, but was less focused. This is a truly unique and entertaining movie that should be seen by everyone.

Rating:
Summary: an overlooked little gem
Review: A film by Paul Thomas Anderson

This was the first film by director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love), and it seems to have improved with age. It has the slower, deliberate pacing that seems to be a P.T.A. trademark, and it is a dark little movie. The more I watch it, the more I find interesting about it. It doesn't quite pop off the screen the way Boogie Nights and Magnolia did, but I feel that this one is worth a look.

This is the story of a man named Sydney (Philip Baker Hall). Sydney is at a roadside diner when he sees a man sitting alone outside the diner. The man, John (John C Reilly) looks to be incredibly down on his luck with no idea of what to do next. John doesn't even have a clue of what he can possibly do next. Sydney offers John a cigarette and a cup of coffee. He then offers John a hand to get back on his feet. Sydney offers John a ride to Vegas, fifty dollars, and offers to teach him how he can use that money to get a room. We see the beginnings of a mentor/student relationship. What we don't know is why Sydney is doing this for John.

Flash forward two years. We are still in Las Vegas. John seems to be doing better and he is still with Sydney. The mentor/student relationship feels more like a father/son relationship. We are introduced to Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a waitress at a casino. She knows Sydney and seems to like him. She is worried about doing something wrong to disappoint John. We're now unsure about how Clementine fits into the equation, where she will impact the lives of Sydney and John, but we know she will. We are also introduced to Jimmy (Samuel L Jackson), a friend of John's. John likes Jimmy, but also seems to be led by Jimmy, overpowered by Jimmy. It is obvious that Sydney does not like Jimmy.

For a good portion of the movie I was unsure of where the film was going, but I was very interested in how it was going to get there. I suspect that Hard Eight is not a movie for everyone, even those who normally like P.T.A.'s other work. You can tell it is an independent film (it does not have the polish you are likely to find when a studio puts up a larger sum of money), and it is a slow moving one. It also features some fantastic performances by Philip Baker Hall, John C Reilly, and Gwyneth Paltrow. I would like to especially note the work done by Philip Baker Hall: exceptional. The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. This is not a slick Hollywood movie, but it's a fine piece of work and an often overlooked one.

Rating:
Summary: An Overlooked Diamond
Review: This film is a slow character study set in the poor gambling world on the outskirts of Nevada. It doesn't start strong, but over time there is a buildup of surprising power. Sidney, the old gambling pro, takes his young protege into his heart and lets himself feel deeply for the younger man.

It is a rare and mysterious act of altruism that is unexplained until later in the film.

Gwyneth Paltrow comes in later as a waitress/occasional hooker, who's personal weakness steers the characters into great danger.

I really felt the love - that Sid would do anything for his adopted son, despite his flaws, and that this relationship had given his empty life a new meaning and purpose.

The theme here is of losers, trying desperately to join hands and bring themselves a new life and a brighter future, despite their great problems and psychic devastation. This is a story of internal growth that we all emulate.

The dialogue style is also very distinctive and powerful, rather like David Mamet.

This was one of Gwyneth Paltrow's early films - It wasn't widely distributed, but it certainly lead to major roles later. She's obviously a very powerful talented actress - and it's more obvious here because this isn't a beauty-queen role. If anything it's the opposite, but she shines through it.

On the strength of this movie PT Anderson finished Boogie Nights two years later and is now an international star, if not yet a box-office hero.

Rating:
Summary: Please sir, I want some noir
Review: Few movies can make characters seem entirely real, or convey a mix of feelings as subtlely as this film can. "Hard Eight" is one of those few. With characters that seem like real people, a sinuously twisted plot, and plenty of suspense, rain-darkened skies and shady characters.

A former pro gambler, Sydney (Philip Baker Hall), stumbles across a young man named John (John C. Reilly) at a roadside restaurant; John is broke, embittered, homeless, and needs money for his mother's funeral -- money he doesn't have, and doesn't know how to get. Sydney makes him an offer: John will come to Vegas and Sydney will teach him how to gamble. Though John is suspicious at first, he soon comes to trust Sydney, who takes the young man under his wing and gets him a job.

Two years later, Sydney also takes the young waittress/hooker Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) under his wing, giving her a place to stay, and letting her and John go out to have fun. But their day out takes a horrific turn when Clementine falls back into her old ways and sleeps with a jerk. When he won't pay, John takes him hostage, and turns to Sydney for help. After learning that John and Clementine got married, Sydney does bail his young friends out of their predicament. But then he comes face-to-face with Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson), who knows -- and may reveal -- the shadowy secrets in Sydney's past.

"Hard Eight" fulfills the specifications of film noir like few modern films do. The overcast sky and constant rain hint at the dark threads running through the film. Adding to the feeling are the complex and secretive characters, the glimpses into the darker sides of human nature, and the fact that very little is what it seems. While you can guess from the first minutes of the film that Sydney has some secret motivation for what he does, you cannot even begin to guess it.

The writing for the movie is phenomenal. One of the best things is that the characters, under pressure, act like real people -- they freak out, they say things they don't mean, they act stupidly or childishly. Yet it's because often they're scared (John), or lack confidence (Clementine); Clementine and John both cling to Sydney when they're in trouble, out of a genuine belief that he can make all right with the world.

Hall is simply amazing as Sydney. His immaculate dark suits, gravelly voice and melancholy eyes are perfect as the haunted ex-gambler. Reilly does a good job making the transition from bitterness to trust, although at times he gets a little too hysterical. Paltrow is fantastic as the troubled prostitute whom John and Sydney are struggling to help in their different ways. And Samuel L. Jackson is delightful as Jimmy.

Harkening back to an era with Bogart, Lorre and Greenstreet, "Hard Eight" is a solid, multifaceted drama with wonderful acting and a subdued pace. Sit back and let it soak in.