Suffers from the usual PTA muddled structure. It's not artistic to wait until half the movie is over before starting the story, it's just dull. The first half is pointless and is all setup. Start the movie when the story starts.
The first feature signed Paul Thomas Anderson, Hard Eight isn't actually the director's first collaboration with the great Philip Baker Hall - they did a short together - but it IS the first appearance of John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a PTA movie (and Melora Walters' as well, in a tiny role). Many of the things PTA will do later are embryonically here, in particular naive John C's relationship with an avowed screw-up (here played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and his interest in the procedural gives us a few tips on how casinos work and such. And of course, it looks and sounds beautiful. However, we are definitely in the post-Pulp Fiction era (enter Samuel Jackson) where a lot of talky crime films were being made. And still, this stands up on its own. It's a gambling/crime film, but it's not the Big Money - people struggle over a few thousand dollars. Hall is a good Samaritan to hangdogs Reilly and Paltrow, and we might wonder why, or how he can maintain his lifestyle. And whether things work out or don't in any given situation is basically a roll of the dice. The film has a moral center - Hall's character - but neither right nor wrong have any say on how things will go. Chance, not karma, rules.
Add your comment
Comments 1 - 7 of 7
johnnyg
a.k.a. Hard Eightaussieflickfan
Great acting and script - sad and moving, with a nice twist. The sort of film you thought they didn't make any more.Musanna
It's probably PTA's worst film yet it is still fantastic.oblomov
I remember liking this film a lot. Made quite an impression at the time. Worth watching!shitmovies
Suffers from the usual PTA muddled structure. It's not artistic to wait until half the movie is over before starting the story, it's just dull. The first half is pointless and is all setup. Start the movie when the story starts.Siskoid
The first feature signed Paul Thomas Anderson, Hard Eight isn't actually the director's first collaboration with the great Philip Baker Hall - they did a short together - but it IS the first appearance of John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a PTA movie (and Melora Walters' as well, in a tiny role). Many of the things PTA will do later are embryonically here, in particular naive John C's relationship with an avowed screw-up (here played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and his interest in the procedural gives us a few tips on how casinos work and such. And of course, it looks and sounds beautiful. However, we are definitely in the post-Pulp Fiction era (enter Samuel Jackson) where a lot of talky crime films were being made. And still, this stands up on its own. It's a gambling/crime film, but it's not the Big Money - people struggle over a few thousand dollars. Hall is a good Samaritan to hangdogs Reilly and Paltrow, and we might wonder why, or how he can maintain his lifestyle. And whether things work out or don't in any given situation is basically a roll of the dice. The film has a moral center - Hall's character - but neither right nor wrong have any say on how things will go. Chance, not karma, rules.The_Comatorium
http://thoughtsfromthebooth.com/2013/12/03/classic-review-hard-eight-aka-sydney-1996/My Review