# 190 The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler centers on a pool player, "Fast" Eddie Felson, played by Paul Newman, and his struggle to make money by means of his talent. His main goal is to beat another outstanding player, Minnesota Fats. There is also a romantic plot line in the film. However, to me, the main interest of the movie was the relationship between Eddie and his manager Bert.

This happens a lot in sports or music industry: not-so-talented people take advantage of those who are particularly good at something, make them play by their rules, and, what's even worse, make them feel like they are nothing without their help. All of this has been talked about before, but this film is pretty good at showing how this actually happens.

I enjoy watching snooker a lot (I wonder how many of my followers have heard of it), which gives me a right to say that I can somewhat relate to cue sports, and although the rules and the ideology behind nine-ball is very different, it was still fun to watch, and I guess that's what made the movie worth it for me.

If it wasn't for my interest in cue sports though, most likely I would have found The Hustler very boring. To me it was just too slow, the romantic plot line was depressing, I couldn't think of a reason why those two people ended up being together. I guess their relationship was necessary in order to provide such a dramatic ending (which, by the way, was one of the strongest parts of the movie), but their romance left me emotionally distant. Not a bad movie overall, but I'd rather watch The Color of Money than this one again.

Interesting fact: In the first big game, Eddie uses massé to change the cue ball direction and pocket two balls on a single shot. In the final game of the movie, he does it again. This is actually the same shot filmed from different angles. Although the shot is impressive, it is very risky and would give Eddie no discernible advantage.

Favorite quote: "I lie. When I'm drunk I lie".