The only knowledge I had of The Hustler prior to watching it was that it was connected to The Color of Money, was about pool-sharking, and starred Paul Newman. Prior to #filmswap, I had never considered watching it, despite the tons of people who were telling me otherwise. I always take recommendations with a grain of salt, and I always second guess when people say something is a “classic”. That being said:
The Hustler is rightfully a classic film.
Motivations are clear, characters are nuanced, and most importantly, expectations are overturned and rewritten. One of the overarching notes of the film is how Eddie Felson is a pool shark with talent but no character. Bert, a professional gambler and shady opportunist, sees in him the same thing he sees in all the people he throws down his cash on – potential. He sees the possibility of turning Eddie into another money-making opportunity. But what could have been a simple film about a master and apprentice and his coming-of-age instead became something greater.
But it wasn’t the cool demeanor of Paul Newman, nor was it George C. Scott’s self-motivated Bert that convinced me of these qualities. It was in the tragic figure of Sarah.
Sarah represents the balance of talent and character in The Hustler, despite her not being a pool player or a gambler. Her talent is in her understanding of people, both good and bad. She recognizes – and calls out – Bert’s enabling attitude, when she tells him, “you own all the tomorrows because you buy them today, and you buy cheap.” She can see right through his suave veneer and see he’s using Eddie. But she also understands that Eddie needs Bert in order to feel like a somebody, and she doesn’t feel like she’s in any position to stop him, at least initially.
When Eddie casts Charlie, a man who we saw previously as a sort of handler of his, out of his life, telling him to “lay down and die”, Sarah spends the entire scene observing and not saying a word, silently crying at Eddie’s callousness. When she drunkenly questions him about this, about if he would say the same to her, he responds with a slap. Sarah is an inversion of a character foil. While she questions the actions of Eddie and Bert, she never does so maliciously. It’s all out of genuine concern.
Sarah is also self-destructive. She drinks. She drinks when she writes, when she’s sad, when she’s celebrating, alone or with company. But more importantly, she drinks to cope with the reality as she understands it. Sarah's ability to see right into people as they truly are has taken its toll on her. It's no help then that when she tries to explain this to Eddie, he tosses it aside. Take this exchange:
As I watched Sarah walk down the stairs into a party she wanted to have no part in, standing in a floral white blouse with a glass in hand, surrounded by people in black ties and black cocktail dresses, I realized she held a quality greater than the sum of her parts. It was a quality that left her alone in a crowded room, and it was something Eddie would only learn to appreciate when it was far too late.
Eric had trouble watching The Hustler, because he kept thinking Paul Newman looked just like Dan. Salad dressing would never be the same for him again. Follow him on Twitter: @fivedollardare
The Hustler is rightfully a classic film.
Motivations are clear, characters are nuanced, and most importantly, expectations are overturned and rewritten. One of the overarching notes of the film is how Eddie Felson is a pool shark with talent but no character. Bert, a professional gambler and shady opportunist, sees in him the same thing he sees in all the people he throws down his cash on – potential. He sees the possibility of turning Eddie into another money-making opportunity. But what could have been a simple film about a master and apprentice and his coming-of-age instead became something greater.
But it wasn’t the cool demeanor of Paul Newman, nor was it George C. Scott’s self-motivated Bert that convinced me of these qualities. It was in the tragic figure of Sarah.
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| Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard |
When Eddie casts Charlie, a man who we saw previously as a sort of handler of his, out of his life, telling him to “lay down and die”, Sarah spends the entire scene observing and not saying a word, silently crying at Eddie’s callousness. When she drunkenly questions him about this, about if he would say the same to her, he responds with a slap. Sarah is an inversion of a character foil. While she questions the actions of Eddie and Bert, she never does so maliciously. It’s all out of genuine concern.
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| Piper Laurie maintains a vulnerable, yet stoic beauty in The Hustler. |
Sarah is also self-destructive. She drinks. She drinks when she writes, when she’s sad, when she’s celebrating, alone or with company. But more importantly, she drinks to cope with the reality as she understands it. Sarah's ability to see right into people as they truly are has taken its toll on her. It's no help then that when she tries to explain this to Eddie, he tosses it aside. Take this exchange:
EDDIE Would you go on back to the hotel? Take a cab, go on back to the hotel. SARAH Doesn't all of this come through to you, Eddie? Doesn't any of this mean anything to you? That man, this place, the people. They wear masks, Eddie. And underneath the masks they're perverted, twisted, crippled. EDDIE Shut up. His eyes are shut tight; his balled-up fists rub against his temples. SARAH (moving to him) Don't wear a mask, Eddie. You don't have to. (points to Bert) That's Turk, Eddie, the man who broke your thumbs. Only he's not going to break your thumbs. He'll break your heart, your guts. And for the same reason -- 'cause he hates you, 'cause of what you are. 'Cause of what you have and he hasn't.
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| Alone in a crowded room. |
As I watched Sarah walk down the stairs into a party she wanted to have no part in, standing in a floral white blouse with a glass in hand, surrounded by people in black ties and black cocktail dresses, I realized she held a quality greater than the sum of her parts. It was a quality that left her alone in a crowded room, and it was something Eddie would only learn to appreciate when it was far too late.
Eric had trouble watching The Hustler, because he kept thinking Paul Newman looked just like Dan. Salad dressing would never be the same for him again. Follow him on Twitter: @fivedollardare
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