The Hustler - 4 stars out of 10
I don't know what it was about this film, but it completely let me down (especially after Netflix predicted that I'd give it a nearly perfect rating). Paul Newman is so cool and the whole pool plot seemed very interesting, and yet I felt that this film was completely bookended: awesome opening pool sequences, emotionally charged ending, and then 90 meandering minutes in the middle. I think that the critics decided that this one would be great before it even appeared in theaters. Paul Newman is always deserving of an Oscar nomination but for me, George C. Scott (who was also nominated for an Oscar) stole the show. Jackie Gleason - why was he nominated? The world may never know. Despite its many nominations, it is no surprise that it lost out to "West Side Story" in most categories, but I still don't see why everybody adores it. I would love to see a remake of this film, shorter in length and keeping the intensity of that pool sequence from start to finish. I'll plan on watching this one again in case I missed something, but the first time around was a less-than-impressive showing.
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