This is, by far, the best movie ever made about pool. The only film that has even come close to being as great as this is Poolhall Junkies. The Color of Money was good as well but that’s the sequel to this film. Paul Newman stars as “Fast” Eddie Felson, the greatest pool hustler of all time. He winds up in a pool hall to play the living legend himself Minnesota Fats played by Jackie Gleason. Eddie sets forth to beat Gleason in a game of 14.1 Continuous Pool or Straight Pool. For those of you who don’t know the rules of straight pool I’ll go into a brief summary for you – You have 15 balls on the table like in 8-ball. The break is the same as 8-ball, the only difference being that you can shoot either solids or stripes. You continue shooting if you pocket a ball. When there is only one ball left on the table you rerack the other 14 and break again. The game is played to a specific score or number of balls pocketed. I believe they were playing to 125 in The Hustler. So Fast Eddie has Fats on the ropes for a good part of the night. Fats and Eddie start drinking whiskey. Eddie gets drunk, Fats doesn’t. Fats takes Eddie for everything Eddie has. The film continues following Eddie as he tries to rebuild his confidence in himself and as he rebuilds his bankroll to take Fats on again. Eddie knows he’s good but his backer loves to tell him things like “You’re a born loser Fast Eddie.” Thankfully Eddie’s girlfriend tells him things like “You’re a winner Eddie.” This film is full of drama, emotional connection to the characters and some of the best pool you will see in a movie. This is a must see in my book.
A++
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