Review of The Hustler (1961) by Jason R — 11 Apr 2009

A beautiful print of this film played last weekend at the Music Box, where it was shuttled onto that theater's smaller screen because "The Wrestler" was playing in the big auditorium ("Once Upon a Time in the West" suffered the same fate earlier in the week).

That juxtaposition was kind of fortuitous, though, because it really drove home that the latter film is ultimately just a pale imitation of the former, and while Rourke's performance is certainly worthy of Newman's (if less flahsy, which is to its credit), Aronofsky's directing can't hold a candle to Rossen's.

More importantly, "The Wrestler" is a one-man show, whereas "The Hustler" has a handful of the cinema's most fully-realized and best acted supporting roles. Laurie and Scott are fantastic, and Gleason does a great job of shifting from beaming, defiant confidence to the slumped shoulders and exasperated eyes of a displaced giant.