- Actors: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, F. William Parker
- Directors: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Producers: Hard Eight ( Sydney ) ( Last Exit Reno 8 ), Hard Eight, Sydney, Last Exit Reno 8
- Format: PAL
- Subtitles: English, Swedish, Danish
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: 7 April 2008
- Run Time: 97.00 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0013Z5B5A
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 25,794 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), Danish ( Subtitles ), English ( Subtitles ), Finnish ( Subtitles ), Norwegian ( Subtitles ), Swedish ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Before his commercial breakthrough with Boogie Nights (1997), writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson made this drama. John (John C. Reilly), a half-bright loser stranded in Reno, is down to his last few bucks when Sydney (Phillip Baker Hall), taking pity on him, buys him breakfast and offers him a few tips on making money in the casinos. Two years later, John has become Sydney's partner, but his lack of common sense goes from problematic to dangerous when he falls in love with Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a cocktail waitress who isn't above turning a few tricks when she needs to make money - and isn't any brighter than John. HALL and Reilly, both first-rate character actors, are cast in rare leading roles, and Paltrow is cast strongly against type as a part-time prostitute with a serious lack of street smarts. ...Hard Eight ( Sydney ) ( Last Exit Reno 8 )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Paul Thomas Anderson's debut is a very self assured effort. Featuring Andersons trade marks of long takes and tracks and explosive moments of violence, this film is a different venture for Anderson. Removing himself from the familiar surroundings of Boogie Nights and Magnolia's San Fernando valley setting, the film takes place in Reno Nevarda and centres around the relationship between Sydney (Phillip Baker Hall) and John (John C. Reilly) two loners in a very lonely place. John needs money to crimate his mother and Sydney takes him under his wing. This is very intense relationship study that centres on the dynmaic between a father figure and his surroget son. Also features the ever present Samuel l. Jackson. Bristling with atmosphere and confident camera work, intelligent dialogue and an amazing performance from Hall this a great film in it's own right aswell as being the first effort from the cocksure Anderson.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Very original, fascinating, amazingly assured, unique first feature from Paul Thomas Anderson. A darker, creepier, more depressing side of the US gambling world than we usually get to see.
Anchored by an absolutely stunning performance by Philip Baker Hall, and very good ones by John C. Reily, Gwenth Paltrow and Samuel Jackson. The themes that haunt much of Anderson's work are all here. The need for a family structure no matter how dysfunctional, the failed attempts to find happiness through material things, etc. Yes, there are a few weaker moments, but overall this heralds the arrival of a major contemporary filmmaker. Great use of music, camera work, and Pinteresque dialogue. Very worth seeking out to see the early work of one of the most interesting current directors.
Anchored by an absolutely stunning performance by Philip Baker Hall, and very good ones by John C. Reily, Gwenth Paltrow and Samuel Jackson. The themes that haunt much of Anderson's work are all here. The need for a family structure no matter how dysfunctional, the failed attempts to find happiness through material things, etc. Yes, there are a few weaker moments, but overall this heralds the arrival of a major contemporary filmmaker. Great use of music, camera work, and Pinteresque dialogue. Very worth seeking out to see the early work of one of the most interesting current directors.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
This is also known as "Sydney" (director Paul Thomas Anderson's original title) after the name of the movie's central character, a somewhat mysterious casino gambler (and murderer, by the way) played by veteran Philip Baker Hall. The new and more commercially-viable title comes from the game of craps in which the dice player can roll an eight with a six and a two or with a five and a three or with two fours. Since probabilistically the hardest way to roll an eight is with two fours, that's called a "hard eight." Such a choice occurs twice in the movie, and symbolically a "hard eight" may represent the gambler's psychology.
Co-starring as Sydney's protege is John C. Reilly as John Finnegan, a kind of loveable schmuck who falls in love with a Reno waitress/prostitute named Clementine, played quirkily by Gwyneth Paltrow. Samuel L. Jackson has a modest but very convincing part as a casino security sleaze.
Anderson's direction of these very talented actors was excellent. I wish I could say the same for his script. Most viewers I suspect will find this a bit dull; and, as it unfolds and we find out why Sydney is playing guardian angel to John, viewers may even be disappointed. I know I was. I had expected something original as Sydney's motivation, but what we learn in the last reel is quite ordinary (as movie motivations go).
What kept me watching was of course trying to figure out what makes Sydney tick and why and how he can spend his time so aimlessly gambling (and almost always losing), and where his money comes from. I also was intrigued by the originality of Anderson's treatment as opposed to his story per se. The stylized, slightly "off" dialogue, especially well-suited to Reilly's studied interpretation and Philip Baker Hall's inscrutability, reminded me of something that might have been written by David Mamet or even Quentin Taratino. Finally I was interested in seeing how Paltrow would play a role seemingly quite removed from her screen persona. I thought the delicate and very winning star of Shakespeare in Love (1998), etc., worked hard to create the sort of lower-class, uneducated, "victim" of the Las Vegas/ Reno casino culture that Anderson had in mind, and I thought she did it well. However, hers was not a sympathetic role and it did not test Paltrow's range as a actress, although playing a prostitute is something many actresses find interesting. I am thinking of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990) and Elizabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas (1995) or even Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour (1967).
Bottom line here is that this is a studied, "arty" movie well worth seeing because of the performances and as an example of Anderson's unique style, but not something for a mass audience or for those viewers looking for a diverting thriller.
But see this for Philip Baker Hall, one of those rare actors to actually find his best roles and do his best work in his sixties. Indeed, his performance here revitalized a career that had long languished. In this regard I am reminded of the Swedish actor Victor Sjostrom who gave perhaps his greatest performance in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957) when he was 80 years old. Although I have seen little of Hall's work, I am willing to bet that this was one of his greatest performances.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Hard Eight" will leaves you wanting to watch it again and again
(THE FILM)
From the director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood comes an intense crime thriller - Hard Eight. Read more
From the director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood comes an intense crime thriller - Hard Eight. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. F. husseiny
A disappointment
Being a P.T. Anderson fan (Magnolia is one of my favourite films) i was very disappointed with this effort, a friend has told me it was spoilt by studio interference which would... Read more
Published 7 months ago by G. S. Haynes
Real Vegas life in a well done film .
This movie is kind of slow , get prepared for it . Deep and very honest film . You'll find here professional gamblers and professional hustlers . Streetsmarts and life naives . Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2003 by Vlad
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