Hard Eight is
Paul Thomas Anderson's debut film, which was originally titled
"Sydney". I was excited to revisit this film recently, due to my growing anticipation for Anderson's new film
There Will Be Blood.
It has been at least four years since I've seen the film. Its plot similarities with Melville's
Bob Le Flambeur had put me off the film, though right now I can't exactly articulate why... Perhaps I've grown out of the simplicity of plot specifics. Lately, my general rule is:
It's not the story, it's how it's told. The two films are told so differently, that my previous hang-up with "Hard Eight" bears no relevance.
This is an incredibly self-assured debut as a writer and a director. Anderson is confident enough in his words and direction of actors that the first fifteen minutes of the film has no action whatsoever, other than two guys talking at a diner then continuing their conversation in a car.
Phillip Baker Hall plays an aging man named Sydney who, at the start of the film, befriends a down-on-his-luck-looking young man named John (played by
John C. Reilly) sitting penniless outside a diner on the outskirts of Reno. John seems to be in a rough place, having lost all the money he was trying to multiply in order to bury his mother. Sydney makes him an offer: to help John out of his bad situation in exchange for John's help if Sydney would ever need it. John accepts and Sydney takes him back to Reno. It is not clear who Sydney is, or why he does the things he does. Upon arrival in Reno, Sydney shows John a few easy cons; how to fake high activity on a "rate card" in order to get free amenities like a meal, hotel room, etc. This shows Sydney has experience in this area, knows the ins and outs of the casino world. John gets a meal and a room, and then the story goes forward a few years...
Now, I'm just recycling the plot. I shouldn't do that. Retelling the story doesn't really do any justice to how the film plays out. This is not just a movie about grifters or casino players. It is a character piece centering on one man who unbelievably gracious and giving to John and Clementine (
Gwyneth Paltrow) for purely unselfish reasons (or so it seems...more on that later). This film seems to be about the "why"; Why does Sydney take John under his wing? Why does Sydney care about Clementine? Why does Sydney not especially like the Jimmy character? What is Sydney's back story to this whole thing? Not many of these questions go answered, and they don't need to be. The story is about more than the character's past, and that is where it shines despite on little kink.
It is partly a story about "Old vs. New"; how the old guard, represented by Sydney, and their time, rules, and way of life is almost up. The new guard, represented by John, Clementine and especially Jimmy (
Samuel L. Jackson), are inexperienced, daft, disrespectful, and could use a little teaching/help. This may not be the central theme of the film, as much as it is in the third act of
No Country For Old Men, but it is present and haunting Sydney.
The scene in which Sydney gambles against a obnoxious younger gambler (played so watchably by
Phil Seymour Hoffman) is a prime example of this theme. Hoffman's loud-mouthed douchebag eggs Sydney on and on and on. He taunts Sydney by calling him "Ol' Timer" over and again, and then winning lucky dice. This suckers Sydney into betting the Hard Eight. He loses. The very next scene he is awoken by the phone call that sets up the final act, which truly shows how much of a guardian angel Sydney is.
This film is also about redemption, in a way, and this is where I feel the story tells us something that doesn't necessarily need to be told. SPOILER. It seems that Sydney is seeking redemption through John, based on something that happened in Atlantic City (to John's father?). Jimmy knows what happened in Atlantic City and tries to use that as something additional to hold over Sydney's head. I'm not sure that we needed to know this information. Are we to expect that Sydney was looking for John before the beginning of the movie, and tracked him down to that diner? I guess it shows that there is always something else lurking beneath the kindness of strangers, but it seems like it is handled a little clumsily in the scene between Jimmy and Sydney. END OF SPOILER
This is a very solid Neo-Noir/Character film and the actors are very good in it. Lead roles for Hall and Reilly back in a time in which both were regulated to a few scenes in other films/television shows, and both make the best of their roles. Hall in the above mentioned Hoffman face-off is great, but especially juicy is the hotel room discovery scene with Paltrow and Reilly.
Anderson really started his run with this film. His commentary tracks on the DVD of this film are chock full of information, history, and process. These tracks and the
Boogie Nights DVD commentary tracks set the gold standard for commentary tracks for me back in 1997/8.
It is a shame that:
A) Commentary tracks theses days aren't as juicy, educational, gossipy, and brimming with film love. And,
B) Paul Thomas Anderson is not doing commentary tracks as much these days. No Magnolia. No Punch-Drunk Love.
Raise a drink to the rest of the Anderson-athon, and towards "There Will Be Blood"!!!
