The Hustler: Paul Newman Gold

I watched the Color of Money with Tom Cruise and 1/4 century older Paul Newman and thought it was very good. When I found out it was a sequel to the Hustler featuring Newman and Jackie Gleason, I knew I needed to see the original. I found it on Starz and DVR'd it since it played at 3am. The movie follows Newman, a pool shark, as he travels a bit to find pool legend Minnesota Fats playing in Des Moines, IA. Newman starts playing and they continue playing high stakes pool for basically a day and some change. You're introduced to George C. Scott's character, who is excellent as all George C. Scott characters all. A very young Pieper Laurie plays Newman's love interest, they bond over having nothing to do but drink and that's the only relationship they have, but it grows from there. Newman debates what to do with himself as pool in the area is drying up since everyone knows he gave Minnesota Fats a run. Scott ends up bankrolling Newman and they start a pool hustling adventure. They move around a bit while Scott pits himself vs. Laurie in a fight for Newman's soul. Newman is fantastic and carries the movie as he needs to as it's essentially a biopic. The final scenes of Newman shooting pool with Gleason again with Scott in the background are excellent, as are their first go-around. It's tragic that Gleason isn't utilized more, he's excellent as Minnesota Fats. Bottom Line: 8.8 out of 10. Excellent movie that shows of Newman's talent in a variety of ways. He's just a great pool player, which is one of the many things highlighted throughout the film. Highly recommend renting this one if you have some time. It's possible it'll find itself on Netflix, or a variety of streaming tools soon as well.