Movies We Watch

Syndey or as we watched it, “Hard Eight” was one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s first film and was released one year prior to Boogie Nights.

This film, like most Anderson films, develops some great characters and follows them through their days. This followed a man named Sydney played by Philip Baker Hall. He is also in Boogie Nights as is a great deal of the cast of Sydney.

The movie follows Sydney and his mentorship of John (John C. Reilley). The relationship that develops but also how Sydney is always there for John. It isn’t until the end when you find out one of the main reasons for that. And it is a pretty nice twist.

There are times where I wish things were explored more and some things moved too quickly, not getting the time they deserved – like the friendship between John and Jimmy. No idea how it started, possibly as unexpectedly as the one between John and Sydney, but did they both have the same reason for starting? We will never really know if John was sought out or lucked into by both characters.

Good film, interesting characters. I would give it 2 hours of an evening anytime. But then it had Samuel L. Jackson in it, and that means it must be watched here.

imdb.com

John has lost all his money. He sits outside a diner in the desert when Sydney happens along, buys him coffee, then takes him to Reno and shows him how to get a free room without losing much money. Under Sydney’s fatherly tutelage, John becomes a successful small-time professional gambler, and all is well, until he falls for Clementine, a cocktail waitress and sometimes hooker.