Hard Eight

Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature-length debut, Hard Eight is a low-key yet sporadically fascinating drama revolving around Philip Baker Hall’s Sydney and John C. Reilly’s John. Sydney, a straight-shooting professional gambler, encounters the young, down-on-his-luck John outside a Reno diner and subsequently takes the man under his wing, with the bulk of the movie transpiring over a few particularly eventful days two years after their initial meeting. While Hard Eight does possess the feel of a first feature, there’s certainly no denying that the film is rife with precisely the sort of stylistic and thematic touchstones with which Anderson has since come to be associated – including a challenging (and downright innovative) score and some seriously impressive camerawork. Hall’s pitch-perfect performance is complemented by Reilly’s expectedly sturdy work as Sydney’s understudy, while Philip Seymour Hoffman easily dominates his one scene as a boisterous gambler who keeps referring to Sydney as “Big Time.” Hard Eight ultimately isn’t quite as flashy or as resonant as Anderson’s later efforts, yet, judged on its own merits, the movie undoubtedly (and effectively) manages to put an electrifying spin on an admittedly familiar premise.

***1/2 out of ****