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CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 06/22/07
A Game of Character
by jason davis
The Hustler (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Screenplay by Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen (the latter directed)
Based on the novel by Walter S. Tevis
 
 
Nominated for nine Oscars (including Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material; From Another Medium) Robert Rossen and Sidney Carroll's screenplay for The Hustler uses the sport of pool as a dramatic framework to develop the story of California hustler Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) as he shoots for the top and comes up short on character despite his ample talent. Five games divide the story into a classic structure that establishes the world, introduces a challenge, knocks the protagonist on his butt, grinds him into the ground, and finishes with a climactic showdown with pool-hall legend Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Along the way, canny but callous sponsor Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) and crippled alcoholic Sarah Packard (Piper Laurie) act as catalysts redefining Eddie's approach to the game with life lessons that forge the arrogant hustler into a classy master of the game. Fox's two-disc re-release racks up a number of featurettes cued toward explaining the game's function in the drama and the film's place in history.
The Hustler (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Unrated; 135 min.
$19.98
Buy it now
Jason Davis is the DVD Manager for CS Weekly , a contributing editor for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and has written for Cinescape.com, MSN.com, and created the TV series Studio 13, which ran on Lorne Michaels' Burly TV network. He lives in the small space left over by his ever-expanding library of books, movies, and music.
The Hustler (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
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