Hard Eight (1996)

Directed by

Paul Thomas Anderson

Genre

drama film, crime film, neo-noir

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 38m

Rated

R

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 993 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A grizzled gambler takes a homeless man under his wing and teaches him the tricks of the trade in the Las Vegas casinos. Their bond is tested when the younger man gets into trouble with a cocktail waitress and a dangerous local gangster.

tensemelancholicslow-burngrittyintimateatmosphericlow-keycharacter-driven

What happens

Hard Eight (originally titled Sydney) is a 1996 American crime film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in his feature directorial debut, and starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson. An expansion on Anderson's 1993 short film Cigarettes & Coffee, it follows the bond between a senior gambler and a homeless man. It premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. The film's title refers to a "hard eight," a wager in the casino game of craps that the shooter will roll two fours before a seven or any other combination totaling eight. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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