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Hard Eight

Hard Eight

Drama · Crime · 1997

A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.

Movie details

Hard Eight

“If you stay in the game long enough, you'll see everything, win everything, and lose everything.”

1997 Drama · Crime 1h 42m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Hard Eight?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Killing

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Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

Bugsy

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul Thomas Anderson

Written by

Paul Thomas Anderson

Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall

Sydney

John C. Reilly

John C. Reilly

John

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow

Clementine

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Jimmy

F. William Parker

F. William Parker

Hostage

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Young Craps Player

N

Nathanael Cooper

Restroom Attendant

Court is in session

Put Hard Eight on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.