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Hard Eight
Before his direct bullseyes with Boogie Nights and Magnolia. director and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson had a near bullseye with a sometimes chilling crime drama called Hard Eight that definitely proves Anderson was a filmmaker to watch.
The 1996 film takes place in Vegas where we meet Sidney (Phillip Baker Hall), a professional gambler who meets a not so professional gambler named John (John C Reilly) sitting outside a diner and offers to buy him a cup of coffee. For some reason, Sidney offers to loan John $50, take him to a casino and teach him how he can turn that $50 into a hotel room and a meal. John listens to everything Sidney tells him and acquires a tidy little bankroll for himself. Sidney and John begin to form a tentative friendship that is complicated by cocktail waitress named Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) who gets the guys in the middle of a very messy situation.
Anderson's screenplay is initially a little vague because we don't understand why Sidney would want to help teach this stranger how to make money, but we also know there's some backstory regarding Sidney that's being hidden from us. We don't understand why he's helping a stranger make money or why he's keeping a very low profile in the casino. We just know this guy is hiding something, but Anderson doesn't tell us a thing. As our imaginations run rampant, we do notice that the guy is definitely in possession of a moral compass and has a great deal of respect for the fairer sex. There's a wonderful moment where Sidney gets furious because someone uses the word "pussy" within Clementine's earshot.
Until the halfway point of the film, we think we're getting sort of a dual character study as we watch this relationship between two virtual strangers develop but still unsure of where it's going...we're not sure if Sidney is setting up John for something because the way he approaches John at the beginning of the film doesn't make sense. But things start to come into focus at the halfway point when it is revealed that, among other things, both Sidney and John have history with Clementine that occurred before this film.
Anderson's direction is atmospheric, staying away from the glitz and glamour associated with Vegas and focusing more on its underbelly. His camera work is superb, with a couple of superb tracking shots. Phillip Baker Hall is Oscar worthy in a performance that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and John C Reilly is solid, as always, as John. Paltrow is a little one note as Clementine, but Samuel L Jackson is a lot of fun as Jimmy and there is a pointless cameo by Anderson rep company member Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's not grade A Anderson but it's better than Licorice Pizza.
Before his direct bullseyes with Boogie Nights and Magnolia. director and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson had a near bullseye with a sometimes chilling crime drama called Hard Eight that definitely proves Anderson was a filmmaker to watch.
The 1996 film takes place in Vegas where we meet Sidney (Phillip Baker Hall), a professional gambler who meets a not so professional gambler named John (John C Reilly) sitting outside a diner and offers to buy him a cup of coffee. For some reason, Sidney offers to loan John $50, take him to a casino and teach him how he can turn that $50 into a hotel room and a meal. John listens to everything Sidney tells him and acquires a tidy little bankroll for himself. Sidney and John begin to form a tentative friendship that is complicated by cocktail waitress named Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) who gets the guys in the middle of a very messy situation.
Anderson's screenplay is initially a little vague because we don't understand why Sidney would want to help teach this stranger how to make money, but we also know there's some backstory regarding Sidney that's being hidden from us. We don't understand why he's helping a stranger make money or why he's keeping a very low profile in the casino. We just know this guy is hiding something, but Anderson doesn't tell us a thing. As our imaginations run rampant, we do notice that the guy is definitely in possession of a moral compass and has a great deal of respect for the fairer sex. There's a wonderful moment where Sidney gets furious because someone uses the word "pussy" within Clementine's earshot.
Until the halfway point of the film, we think we're getting sort of a dual character study as we watch this relationship between two virtual strangers develop but still unsure of where it's going...we're not sure if Sidney is setting up John for something because the way he approaches John at the beginning of the film doesn't make sense. But things start to come into focus at the halfway point when it is revealed that, among other things, both Sidney and John have history with Clementine that occurred before this film.
Anderson's direction is atmospheric, staying away from the glitz and glamour associated with Vegas and focusing more on its underbelly. His camera work is superb, with a couple of superb tracking shots. Phillip Baker Hall is Oscar worthy in a performance that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and John C Reilly is solid, as always, as John. Paltrow is a little one note as Clementine, but Samuel L Jackson is a lot of fun as Jimmy and there is a pointless cameo by Anderson rep company member Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's not grade A Anderson but it's better than Licorice Pizza.