The Hustler (1961)

  I tried to watch this movie when I was way too young to understand it so my brain bookmarked it for a later date.  It fully deserves the praise heaped on it, but you know, maybe also a content warning.  So here's a content warning.

CW:  suicide

"Fast" Eddie Felson (Paul Newman, with a profile that belonged on a Grecian coin, my God, what a beautiful man) is a pool hustler, traveling across the country with his partner, Charlie (Myron McCormick), scamming locals out of their cash.  But what Eddie really wants is to make a name for himself by challenging the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason).  He loses, and badly.  Embarrassed, Eddie abandons his partner and hooks up with Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie), a damaged, borderline alcoholic.  The two are at peace for a while, licking their respective psychological wounds, until Eddie starts to crave the action of the pool-hall again.  He meets Burt Gordon (George C. Scott), a backer with money to burn and a penchant for abusive manipulation.  Sarah immediately recognizes Burt for the evil bastard that he is, but Eddie still thinks he needs Burt to get back to a level where he can challenge Fats to a rematch.  

There are a ton of movies about gambling addiction but almost none as skillful as this one.  It doesn't romanticize Eddie or Sarah at all, presenting them as deeply flawed but sympathetic, adrift in a world full of sharks.  George C. Scott was a hell of an actor at playing complete assholes.  (Also, you've never seen a man who hated the Oscars as much as he did.)  All four main cast got nominated for performances but no one won.  I guess this means I'll have to watch The Color of Money now.

The Hustler is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.