HARD 8
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
HARD 8 is so perfect in every respect, it is hard to know where to begin. Let us start with the writing by Paul Thomas Anderson.. There is not a word in the entire film's dialog that should be changed. Every word has meaning; every word carries with it questions that are raised as the story progresses. I cannot recall when last I saw a movie with dialog as well written. . . and delivered.
Then there is the acting. The film has a superb cast starting with "Sydney," (Philip Baker Hall who one would hope will be remembered when Best Actors are being nominated for 1997 films.) What about the direction, also by Anderson? And the editing by Barbara Tulliver of this very taut story that feels as if at any moment something will snap and you hope it will not.
Sydney, a middle aged well-dressed man approaches a down and out loser who is sitting hunched outside a coffee shop. That is John (John C Reilly). Sydney asks John if he would like a cup of coffee. John asks for a cigarette and follows Sydney into the cafe. Sydney asks John if he has any money. The answer is that he does not; he lost it playing blackjack. Sydney asks John if he knows how to count cards while playing blackjack. No, he does not. Sydney tells him only a fool would play blackjack if he did not know how to count the cards. Sydney then offers to take him to Reno and teach him how to win. And so they are off and, in fact, John does very well.
The film moves two years forward. We meet Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), cocktail waitress and part-time prostitute. We also meet Jimmy (Samuel L Jackson) who is a scummy security guard at a casino who tries his hand at blackmailing Sydney on whom he has some unsavory dirt.
Throw all that together and HARD 8 is an absolute gem, a perfect illustration of how to do nail-biting film noir. Do not miss this one.
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
4 BYTES
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
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