The Hustler

One of the defining roles of the late, great Paul Newman, The Hustler sees him co-star with Jackie Gleason in an acclaimed, award-winning piece of cinema. Newman is ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson, who hustles the pool rooms in search of riches, only to hit the buffers when he encounters Minnesota Fats, played by Gleason. But as Felson hits rock bottom, he soon starts to get his confidence back, and The Hustler is on the way to establishing itself as a cinematic classic. There’s so much to admire. The performances from Newman, Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie are uniformly outstanding, while director Robert Rossen understandably never managed to top the film. But it’s so dripping with detail, so chock-full of quotable lines, and so brilliantly written that it’s hard to see how he could. The high definition transfer makes the most of the exquisitely framed visuals, offering a real clarity to the film’s look. As such, it’s worth considering the Blu-ray upgrade. But first and foremost, the best reason to buy the film is to enjoy a bone fide cinema classic over and over again, looking as good as it ever has. It’s outstanding cinema, and a chance to enjoy one of Hollywood’s finest ever actors at the very top of his game. --Jon Foster