BEFORE: I watched "The Hustler" way back in Year 1 of the project - Movie #312, exactly 600 movies ago. I was sure that premium cable would run the sequel within a few months, and I'd grab it - but I waited and waited. And I refused to watch it on AMC or any other channel with commercials, or download it. Finally one of the premium channels ran it a month or so ago, and I was able to work it into my line-up. Not my preferred way of scheduling things, but since the sequel picks up years after the original, it's OK.
This ends the Tom Cruise chain, but starts up a chain of Paul Newman (last seen in "Absence of Malice"). I suppose I could have easily gone from "Minority Report" to "Inception", but that film will have to wait.
THE PLOT: Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.
AFTER: This is an entertaining enough pool-based drama, maybe not as cerebral as "The Hustler" was, but a little flashier instead, and with higher production values. As fine a movie as "The Hustler" may be, it still looks like it was shot on a backlot, in a fake pool hall. This one looks much more real, shot in real pool halls, real hotel rooms, it feels like the world has opened up by comparison.
The sports clichés are all there - the fading veteran, the hotshot youngster who doesn't know how good he really is, the tournament where everything is on the line - you can see similarities to "Major League", "The Karate Kid", the sport doesn't really matter but the archetypes do.
"Fast Eddie" Felson sees something of himself in the young upstart, Vincent - so he gets himself out of the liquor business and takes him on the road, to teach him the basics of hustling. Not pool, because Vincent's already a great pool player - but if he walks into a pool hall looking like a great player, and acting like a great player, no one's going to want to play him and lose money. Hence the hustle - looking like a dope and dumping a few games in order to raise the stakes.
However, Eddie has trouble getting through to the kid, teaching him that sometimes you win when you lose, and vice versa - it's a tough concept for someone who doesn't see the big picture, and just wants to win.
I wish the film had explored the mechanics of 9-ball a little more, and also the mechanics for hustling. We only learn the name of one scheme, I'm sure there must be dozens more. I'm also fairly sure there's a difference between tournament play and pool-hall hustling play, I wish more of a distinction could have been made between the two. What if Vincent were a great tournament player, but a lousy hustler, isn't that possible? And in a tournament you just play to win, right? So there's no need to hide the fact that you're a good player or dump a game to raise the stakes?
At the start of the film, Fast Eddie was only concerned about winning money, and Vincent was obsessed with winning. It's interesting to me that their roles were reversed at the end.
Also starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (last seen in "Class Action"), Helen Shaver, John Turturro (last seen in "Anger Management"), Bill Cobbs (last seen in "Suspect"), with cameos from Forest Whitaker (last seen in "Repo Men") and Iggy Pop.
RATING: 6 out of 10 bank shots
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