Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

fredroyer This is almost the perfect movie. The economy of scenes, spoken lines and the beautiful photography all work together to tell the story about a man who has to learn what it means to be a human being. It requires the sacrifice of a woman who truly loves him to wake this guy up to what kind of world he created for himself. This movie should be required viewing for every 12 year old girl in the world so they can be exposed to the type of people George C Scott played in this film that are really out there in the real world.

avik-basu1889 'The Hustler' treats pool not just as a game, but as a self- destructive addiction of the protagonist Eddie Felson. The film is about character or more specifically about the development of character. It's about a character coming to realise what's really important in life. Robert Rossen commits to making Eddie a very complicated character who has both positive as well as negative traits. This is why, the character arc that he undergoes seems very effective. Phil Newman is charismatic as well as extremely emotive in his portrayal. What I also like about the film is the treatment of the character of Sarah. On one hand, she isn't the damsel in distress who is supposed to be saved by Eddie. But on the other hand, neither is she the pixie dream girl who is perfect and the fantasy girlfriend from a male perspective. Just like Eddie, Sarah is a complex character who is given requisite amount of importance and attention by Rossen. Piper Laurie's performance is really really great. There is a particular scene in the film where Eddie and Sarah attend a party. There is a particular tracking shot in that scene(which is marked by extremely loud music) where the camera is on Sarah as she walks towards the camera with Eddie visible at the background talking to another woman. The facial expressions and general demeanour of Laurie in this scene is absolutely heartbreaking. My only little gripe with the film is the treatment of character of Bert Gordon. Performance wise, George C. Scott delivers a good performance which exudes authority and charisma. But unfortunately, the Mephistopheles-esque aura that the character is supposed to personify(this symbolism gets explicitly verbalised in the film) doesn't get enough build up and I didn't really feel his influence on Eddie to be as strong as the film wants us to feel. Overall, 'The Hustler' is a really impressive film that revolves around a sport, but is mainly about character ala 'Raging Bull'.

elvircorhodzic THE HUSTLER is a sport drama about a bitter life and an unscrupulous competition. Film is based on Walter Tevis novel of the same name.A small-time pool hustler travels cross-country with his partner and earns, on fraud, some money. His attitude and his big mouth forcing him to challenge the legendary player "Minnesota Fats". A challenger and legend finally meet each other. Straight pool duel can begin. Their game attracts the attention of a professional gambler. The young challenger has, despite a noticeable talent, lost the match. He leaves his partner and he meets, at the local bus terminal, a girl, who is an alcoholic supported by her father, attends college part-time, and walks with a limp. They start a strange relationship. However, the pool hustler wants again to challenge a famous rival. His talent does not seem sufficient, he needs a strong character...A restless, irritable and evil protagonists are perfectly integrated into a dark atmosphere. Their greed for a fame and money has ruled out any form of love and nobility in this film. The plot is brisk and exciting. Every word or move is full of passion and has its price.Paul Newman as Eddie Felson is a passionate and violent pool hustler. The protagonist, who is, at one point, on the top of his life goal, and then drops down until he touches the bottom. He was intoxicated with his ambition. The loss of a loved person and a bitter life knowledge are his brutal sobering. Mr. Newman has offered a quite good performance. Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard is his girlfriend, who has lost in her unclear past. However, when Eddie comes into her life, she revives her pathetic reality. She is a dominant character in one part of the film, in which she emphasizes their tragic fate. George C. Scott as Bert Gordon is an antagonist on duty. He is an evil which trades with feelings and souls. His performance is very convincing. Jackie Gleason (Minnesota Fats) is a cool as a legendary player. However, he has become a prisoner of his talent and money.Maybe this movie is a strong projection of the real world, which is complemented with a cynical reviews and a tragic-ironic end. The protagonists have condemned themselves to a bitter taste of life.

Robert Porter I don't know. Maybe I'm just not getting it? Is this some American thing that Brits don't get? Everyone seems to be feeling very "enlightened" having been shown that talent doesn't accommodate success, & yet the whole world is full of talented people who are forced to palette their mundane lives built on the foundations of moral bankruptcy & economic slavery. The only way people "Win" as far as I can see is luck & cheating. It's not like talented people rule countries around the world; it's not as though the top 10 billboard artists know their musical craft. It's about miserable people wanting to inflict more misery on others than they themselves have experienced. This is nothing new. The only difference here is that this sad fact of our corruption fits in to all the clichéd macho tropes of trite Hollywood media. Sarah - being a "female" knows exactly what's going on - easy to seduce. Eddie - being a bloke gets angry when he doesn't get his own way. Bert - being a "Businessman" only thinks in terms of money. Fats - is.. guess what! A Fat Man!! And he don't talk much man! Yeah man! Cool man! What a load of cods wallop! There's no subtlety in any of these performances which are dragged on & on & on until it becomes a frustrating chore. It's so very blatant that "Winning is knowing when to quit" & that "No amount of money can buy a girl like Sarah". The other message here is that people love to hate talented people. But the protagonist for some reason that eludes me is too retarded to grasp this simple philosophy of life. And instead chooses to go on a self-egotistical rampage out of greed, self denial, & fear of running out of booze & sex. ??? You couldn't make this stuff up!! Even the dead drunk irate poleaxe student bum Sarah makes more sense than the rest of these pretend characters at one point! But hey man.. it's Pool man yeh! And pool is cool yeh? So Spoiler alert: The best character in the film, the one you tolerate the film for; the girl Sarah, takes it upon herself to kill herself, but not before sleeping with the creep "Bert" who insults her, threatens her, sexually assaults her, & tells her to disappear. Why? Coz it takes the death of a bright young lady (who merely needed love) in order for the douche bag to finally win that darn game of cool pool & take home a small fortune! So the moral to this story kids, is that if you wanna win a game of pool, you've got to loose at life first! Yeh man! Cool, man!What a waste of my time.