The Hustler (1961)

 Robert Rossen's "The Hustler"


Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Robert Rossen's 1961 film "The Hustler" is that its lead actor, Paul Newman, did not win an Academy Award for his performance. He instead lost to Maximilian Schell, whose performance in "Judgement at Nuremberg" is far more of a supporting effort. This notion is utterly wild to me, given the charm and emotionality of Newman's performance.

Beyond this fondness for Newman, I was very mixed on "The Hustler." It's a more thematically complex film that I would have originally given it credit for. The problem is that it can be so rhythmically mundane at times. Its central hero must succumb to both internal and external sabotage in order to build the character he needs to come through a better person on the other side. While this dynamic of the film really drew me in, the path to get there was a bit tedious, story-telling-wise. 



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