Hard Eight
Sydney (Philip Baker Hall - Psycho) is a poker-faced professional gambler with a soft heart for a hard luck story. He plays guardian angel to unlucky John (John C. Reilly - The Thin Red Line) and a hooker, Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow – Shakespeare In Love), whom he grows to love like family. When John’s and Clementine’s honeymoon night leads to a disastrous hostage situation, Sydney takes care of it, as usual. But when slick casino pro Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) threatens to reveal a secret from Sydney’s past that could destroy his relationship with the newlyweds, Sydney decides to hedge his bets and not leave anything to chance.
Member Reviews
Hard Eight is a low-key yet sporadically fascinating drama - moviemonger
During the first half, virtually nothing happens -- the characters are stuck in a stasis from which escape seems impossible. Then, during the second half, momentum carries the story to its inescapable conclusion. The dualistic nature of Hard Eight makes it a difficult picture to size up. At times, it's engrossing, but, on other occasions, it's a lesson in frustration. Hard Eight borrows its share of conventions from noir thrillers, but this is more of a character drama than anything else. Sure, there's some violence, gunplay, and a few plot twists. I said earlier that portions of Hard Eight are frustrating. Indeed, some scenes are almost painful to watch because of everyone's inability to act decisively. People talk and talk and talk, but the words don't mean anything, and nothing gets resolved. Characters frequently speak in an elliptical manner, taking forever to get to the point. It's the inertia thing. There's a palpable reluctance to change to status quo. Once it's altered, however, the chain-reaction is forceful and unstoppable. Anyone expecting the high-octane, pop-saturated drive of Pulp Fiction will be disappointed. Hard Eight is a different sort of movie altogether. In fact, it owes more to films like The Music of Chance than to Tarantino's effort. The dialogue is rich but never glib, and the characters, all pictures of loneliness in one way or another, are carefully drawn and developed. In fact, about the only elements Pulp Fiction and Hard Eight have in common are stylistic similarities grounded in the noir tradition and effective performances by the always-solid Samuel L. Jackson. Hard Eight perhaps teases us with more than it delivers. The casino scenes have a sense of energy and verisimilitude that isn't always present when the action switches to swank hotel room and sleazy dives. Yet there's something almost hypnotic about the way Hard Eight develops -- even in its slowest, most tedious moments, it keeps our attention.P.T. Anderson can do no wrong! - KeithTalent
P.T. Anderson's first major film, which I have been wanting to see for ages. I really liked this, even though it's a bit slow in parts. The acting is awesome, with Philip Baker Hall as the father figure for John C. Reilly as he show Reilly how to survive in Vegas. There are also great parts from Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow. As I said, it does lag a bit in a few parts and the motivations of the characters are not clear for quite a long time in this film (I'm also unsure whether I believe one of the major plot points) but I liked going along for the ride with these characters.How did this movie go unknown? - BogieMan
I have to admit I only rented this movie because of it's link to "Boogie Nights" wich I loved. I had never herd of "Hard Eight" and had zero expectations. This is one good movie, not an action movie at all more af a character study but very enjoyable. If I had to pick a weak spot it would be Gweneth Paltrow as a call girl. Only because To me she is such an elegant woman that I found it hard to believe her as a hooker.
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Hard Eight is a low-key yet sporadically fascinating drama - moviemonger
During the first half, virtually nothing happens -- the characters are stuck in a stasis from which escape seems impossible. Then, during the second half, momentum carries the story to its inescapable conclusion. The dualistic nature of Hard Eight makes it ...P.T. Anderson can do no wrong! - KeithTalent
P.T. Anderson's first major film, which I have been wanting to see for ages. I really liked this, even though it's a bit slow in parts. The acting is awesome, with Philip Baker Hall as the father figure for John C. Reilly as he show Reilly how to survive in ...How did this movie go unknown? - BogieMan
I have to admit I only rented this movie because of it's link to "Boogie Nights" wich I loved. I had never herd of "Hard Eight" and had zero expectations. This is one good movie, not an action movie at all more af a character study but very enjoyable. If I ...