Sun 3 Jan 2021
HARD EIGHT. The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1996. Philip Baker Hall (Sydney), John C. Reilly (John Finnegan), Gwyneth Paltrow (Clementine), Samuel L. Jackson (Jimmy), Philip Seymour Hoffman. Screenwriter-director: Paul Thomas Anderson. Currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
I watched this one late last year, and if I actually rated movies and kept lists of such rankings, this one would have come out close to the top. (Please note that if I were to put together such non-existent lists, they would be for the year that I watched them, not the year they were released.)
It was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in his feature film debut, and cinematically speaking it’s a dazzler. Or it is if you like movies set in casinos (in Reno), with lots and lots of neon lights, cheap diners and even cheaper hotels and drab apartment buildings. Anderson also wrote the screenplay, and it’s a dazzler, too, wordwise. Not in a David Mamet sense, but in the sense that the words the characters in this movie are exactly the words the characters would say, if they were in the real world.
Plotwise? That’s something of another matter. It is thin, I admit, and it seems thinner than it really is since it is so slow to develop. An elderly man named Sidney whose face looks like it’s seen all of the woes of the world (Philip Baker Hall) takes a young man named John (John C. Reilly) whom he finds slumped outside the door of a diner, the money he needs to bury his mother all gambled away, under his wing.
The young man, not the most sophisticated young man in any part of the world, but especially not in Reno, becomes the older man’s protégé, the latter obviously knowing his way around a gambling hall very well. Why he does so we do not know, but we are forced by the script (I do not know how) to assume (hope) it is for a good reason. And do we keep watching, although nothing really is happening? Indeed we do.
There are two more players: Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) as a casino waitress who moonlights as a hooker and if anything is less sophisticated than John. What we do know is that he is attracted to her. Then there is Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson), whose brashness Sidney dislikes immediately but whom John considers his new best friend. At this point we still do not know what is really happening, but this is also the point at which the plot finally does kick in.
And it is also the point at which I ironically will stop talking about the plot of this movie. Suffice it to say that from this point on, some of players will do some stupid things, and we are not surprised because these are some of the stupid things people like this would do.
We also learn a good many things that we did not know before, and although we did not know them before, everything all of sudden falls into place exactly as they would have all along, if we had known what they were.
I’d call this neo-noir, even though it ends on what I consider a good note, but shakily so, as people such as those in this movie are not exempt from the realization on the part of the viewer that it is not guaranteed that people such as these will only do one stupid thing in each of their lives.
January 3rd, 2021 at 1:36 am
Ack. I’m unfamiliar with all of the faces and names cited in the introductory paragraph of the above review except for Goldwyn. Have vaguely heard of Samuel Jackson but wouldn’t know him if he ran me over in his limo.
January 3rd, 2021 at 6:53 am
Many critics really admire director Paul Thomas Anderson. But after seeing MAGNOLIA and THERE WILL BE BLOOD I can’t figure out why. His films seem morbid and pointless. And I can’t stand his dysfunctional characters.
There is probably a gap in taste, personality, etc between this director and me.
January 3rd, 2021 at 6:57 am
Philip Baker Hall must be one of the most underused actors of all time – I saw him in The Secret Honour and wondered why it took long for him to get another big part in this film.
January 3rd, 2021 at 7:04 am
Samuel Jackson is a prolific actor (192 films), whose reputation is based on his appearances in Independent films directed by Quentin Tarantino, Kasi Lemmons and Spike Lee.
In recent years he has frequently appeared in the ultra-popular Marvel Comic Book movies as Nick Fury, one of the heroic Avengers. And in the Star Wars films.
January 3rd, 2021 at 7:56 am
You should look out for Philip Baker Hall’s one man tour de force as a disgraced Nixon in SECRET HONOR, as Roger mentioned. It was directed by Robert Altman.
January 3rd, 2021 at 7:10 pm
Fine cast of mostly character actors, even Jackson who is now a major star, save for Paltrow. I admit that I have to be in the right mood for films about dysfunctional people stumbling through life and their crisis, which in some films aren’t all that compelling.
This is a good one though and hits all the right notes.
As for Samuel L.Jackson he is one of the most recognizable faces in film today starring in everything from two SHAFT films to SNAKES ON A PLANE, UNBREAKABLE, and THE LAST GOOD KISS as well as appearances in the Marvel and Star Wars franchises. He even has an instantly recognizable catch phrase I can’t repeat here.
He is one of the most prolific actors in film, a star, but above all a consummate character actor.
January 3rd, 2021 at 7:51 pm
“I admit that I have to be in the right mood for films about dysfunctional people stumbling through life and their crisis, which in some films aren’t all that compelling.”
Same with me.
“This is a good one though and hits all the right notes.”
And I agree with this as well, obviously.
Question: What, exactly, are the right notes that make all the difference? I’m going to have to think about that.
January 3rd, 2021 at 11:10 pm
“I admit that I have to be in the right mood for films about dysfunctional people stumbling through life and their crisis…â€
…especially when I get more of that than I want in reality.
January 4th, 2021 at 12:15 pm
Steve’s review is very interesting.
I should give HARD EIGHT a look.
Maybe it will be a much richer film than I anticipate.
Maybe also his Pynchon adaptation INHERENT VICE.
Anderson has a huge reputation, among contemporary critics. The NY Times listed THERE WILL BE BLOOD as among the best films of the decade.
And there is a new book-length critical study, PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON MASTERWORKS, by Adam Nayman. Haven’t read it.
January 4th, 2021 at 1:51 pm
You can see HARD EIGHT on Amazon Prime Video, but with ads, on Popcornflix, which otherwise I know nothing about:
https://www.popcornflix.com/watch/channel/drama_movies/movie/18-vnybou3cuoeh-hard-eight
January 4th, 2021 at 1:00 pm
Philip Baker Hall here reminds me of the aging George Raft, which fits perfectly into the noir atmosphere of the film as a whole.
January 4th, 2021 at 1:48 pm
I can see why you bring up George Raft, Dan. He would be close, but I don’t think he would bring as much “nuance” to the role as Hall does.
January 4th, 2021 at 6:04 pm
I’ve been touting this movie to friends for a long time. It shows up on cable once or twice a year, and when it does I can’t help but watch it again. I’m surprised no one has mentioned
that Philip Hall’s most famous appearance was on the Seinfeld show. He was the Library Cop!!
Now, anyone who has seen this and likes these type of movies should IMMEDIATELY go looking for a movie from 2018: BAD TIMES at the EL ROYALE, starring Jeff Bridges. You won’t be sorry!! I watched it last week on the FXM channel.
January 4th, 2021 at 8:02 pm
You told me about BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE last week, Paul, and I found I can rent it on Amazon for $3.99. Just waiting for a free evening to watch it. When I do, you’ll read about it here.
January 5th, 2021 at 9:50 am
A noir/ character study. One of my favorite films. Written\directed when P.T. Anderson was only 28, with dialogue is so perfectly spare and direct, simple workman-like camera work, and solid performances squeezed out of each 4 protagonists. Hall, Reilly, Paltrow, and Jackson have arguably never done better work than they turn in here. Its a Film that leaves a real impression during a period when most of its peers, are quite forgettable.
I recall as a clerk at Blockbuster video, we received approx 400 copies of Titanic, and 1 copy of Hard Eight. I tried Hard Eight on a whim, and really enjoyed it. No film will please everyone, But I recommended this film to customers frequently, and they all returned happy & appreciative.